In the book Thrilled to Death, clinical psychologist Dr. Archibald Hart describes our pleasure seeking society as one that overloads the brain circuits, driving us to seek more intense and sensational experiences. We become addicted to extreme forms of stimulation and bored with the ordinary. I think he’s right.
In today’s technologically driven age we are constantly exposed to ever increasing mind boggling activities. We are plugged in, turned on, or hooked up all day long. A recent article in July 16, 2012 issue of Newsweek Magazine entitled Tweets, Texts, Email, Posts: Is the Onslaught Making Us Crazy by Tony Dokoupil supports this theory. Average adults
process 400 texts a month. This would sound high unless we compare it to the average teen who processes 3,700 texts a month. All of this is in addition to emails, ipods, ipads, youtube, and just surfing the Net Is it all making us crazy? The conclusion is YES!
How does this affect the Christian community or those searching for Christ? Well no longer are they satisfied with the ordinary. They must have dramatic faith healings and spectacular miracles or in their minds God does not exist or at least isn’t doing a good job. Unfortunately, they have the cart before the horse. People want to experience a miracle to believe in God when actually they need to believe first.
In Christ’s hometown of Galilee Christ didn’t do many miracles because of their lack of faith (Matthew 13:58). Was this because Christ’s miracles are dependent on our faith? Not at all! But what would have been the point? They wouldn’t have believed anyway.
Sometimes God does provide a visual when he knows it will actually boost our faith. Such was the case with Thomas who said he wouldn’t believe Christ had risen from the dead unless he saw him (John 20:24-29), but Jesus was quick to tell him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The need for Christ to authenticate his message through miracles has long passed. His message speaks for itself. Sadly some professing Christians are still seeking signs and wonders long after their conversion. This is not so much that they doubt Christ’s existence as they are looking for a “thrill” that comes from the miracle. It gives a “high,” a byproduct from an over stimulated society. But when we are always looking for the next big thing or supernatural happening in our lives to feel God’s presence we forget that he has been with us all along. We miss the daily walk.
Sure there are times we have those horrible “lows” in life where we cry out to God for miraculous deliverance and experience the “high” that comes when we are delivered. But when there is no major difficulty going on do we see the miracles of God in the drudgery of everyday life? Do we see God in our day to day grind – getting up when the 6 o’clock alarm rings, taking a shower, brushing our teeth, carpooling the kids, driving to work in the same old car to the same old job and coming home to the same old family, then cooking something to eat, doing the dishes, helping with homework, falling into bed dog tired? Can we cheerfully get up and do it all again the next day and stay totally centered on God?
Healthy Christians are able to go through life without God having to supernaturally zap them with an addictive spiritual meth amphetamine to get them through the day. As we grow in God’s grace we realize the miracle of God revealing himself to us all the time. It might be in the laughter of a child, the smile of a coworker, clouds in the sky, sunlight on a window pane, or the guy who lets us merge in traffic.
If we are truly looking for a miracle, we need look no further than where we are. For where we are, God will be. He’ll never leave us or never forsake us no matter what. He can be our peace and calm in an over stimulated world. If we don’t see that as a miracle, there is no need to look anywhere else, because we’ll never find it.
