Delay

Clinical psychologist Jenny Taitz writes, “I see so many clients who don’t have the ability to wait, and it is no wonder. In a world where it is possible to get the answer to any question instantly with Google and to order coffee for immediate pickup on an app, why should any of us have to deal with delays and unknowns?”

Unfortunately, for many of us, the challenge is that being patient now feels harder than ever before. A 2023 study involving more than 28,000 adults and adolescents found that the average person’s mood got steadily worse every minute they sat doing nothing. Waiting patiently is so difficult that we often react by doing things that actually make us more impatient, like constantly checking our phones for updates or seeking reassurance from everyone we know.

Michael Dugas, another psychologist in the same article notes, “Technology creates the illusion that certainty is possible, which leads to trying to attain certainty in all situations, contributing to worry and anxiety.” When a loved one doesn’t pick up the phone, we track their location instead of waiting for them to call back. When an email doesn’t get a prompt response, we can find out precisely when it was opened. Such behavior only adds to our worry and anxiety.

Polish golfer Adrian Meronk stood over his second shot on the 18th hole of a pro tournament on March 3rd, 2024 and saw another opportunity to climb up the leaderboard. A late birdie in the final round would see him take home an even richer payday from the lucrative event.

But the time Meronk spent mulling that shot turned out to be extraordinarily costly.

Meronk’s birdie was changed to a par after he was assessed a one-stroke penalty for violating the pace of play policy. LIV Golf said that Meronk’s group, which included Masters champion Jon Rahm, had already been warned by a rules official for lagging behind. Then, on that shot on the 18th hole, Meronk was timed at over two minutes, exceeding the time allowed.

That proved to be hugely consequential. Had his original score stood, Meronk would have tied for fifth place with Rahm at 11-under and won $750,000 in prize money at LIV’s tournament in Saudi Arabia. Instead, Meronk ended up in a six-way tie for sixth and won $508,750—a loss of $241,250.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In a similar way, the pace of life these days is so fast and furious that it feels like we’re not keeping up, going faster and faster, will have dire consequences on our lives.

After he died attempting to cross a collapsed bridge in his vehicle, the family of a local man is suing Google because its Maps app directed him to do so.

Philip Paxson was using Google Maps to navigate while driving home from his daughter’s ninth birthday party when the app directed him across a bridge that had collapsed nearly a decade prior, but lacked any kind of warning of the danger. Paxson family attorney Robert Zimmerman said:

For years before this tragedy, Hickory residents asked for the road to be fixed or properly barricaded before someone was hurt or killed. Their demands went unanswered. We’ve discovered that Google Maps misdirected motorists like Mr. Paxson onto this collapsed road for years, despite receiving complaints from the public demanding that Google fix its map and directions to mark the road as closed.

In addition to Google (and its parent company, Alphabet), the Paxson family is also suing two local companies who it claims were responsible for maintaining the bridge and failed to put up any warning signage or safety barricades.

Paxson said, “I still can’t understand how those responsible for the GPS directions, and the bridge, could have acted with so little regard for human life. No one should ever lose a loved one this way.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Consequences; Irresponsibility - When we put off or refuse to do the right thing when given a chance, the Lord will sometimes allow calamitous circumstances to unfold as the natural consequence of imprudent inaction; 2) Danger; Direction; Destruction – Ultimately, we must each take responsibility for the “road” we choose and not depend on others to make that choice for us (Prov. 16:25; Matt. 7:13)

Conventional wisdom says that good things come to those who wait. That axiom rarely applies, however, to the drudgery of domestic air travel as most people go through the modern air travel system. Phil Stringer, however, is not most people.

Stringer travels for work quite often. So, when his early morning flight from Oklahoma City to his hometown of Charlotte experienced a maintenance-related flight delay, he took it in stride, relocating from the gate to a nearby Starbucks.

But then the delays continued, dragging on throughout the day. Eventually he outlasted the staff at the airport Starbucks, who had to kick him out so they could close. When he finally heard the boarding call, however, he was confused.

Stringer said in an interview, "I had thought that everyone had boarded and I was late, because no one was there But [the gate agent] was like, 'No, honey, you're the only one left.'" Everyone else, fed up with the lengthy delays, had sought other options.

The airline, however, could not simply cancel the flight, because the plane and its cargo were needed in Charlotte. So, after being unceremoniously summoned from their nearby hotel, the crew of four flight attendants went through their normal routine, despite having only one passenger. Stringer spent the two-and-a-half-hour flight laughing and joking with them, quite bemused by the novelty of the situation.

He captured his unique scenario with a video and uploaded it to TikTok, where it went viral with over eleven million likes. Stringer said, "We were like, look, we can either be negative about the situation and make a bad situation worse by our attitude. Or we can be positive, lighthearted, and try and make something of this and at least just have fun."

Stringer made some good friends that day, and made plans to see the group of attendants in their home base of Dallas the next time he comes through. He also heard from many people on social media who were encouraged to keep a positive attitude when their plans go awry.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Patience is a virtue precisely because part of the Christian life is waiting patiently on God for outcomes that only God can accomplish or control. When we exhibit patience, we are continually putting trust in God to accomplish the things God has promised.

Worldwide, 60 million people die annually from any or all causes. That's about two deaths every second. In his most recent book, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson asks whether it is good and preferable for human beings to potentially live forever:

It's better to be alive than dead. Though more often than not, we take being alive for granted. The question remains, if you could live forever, would you? To live forever is to have all the time in the world to do anything you ever wanted.

Knowing that we will die may force us to live fuller lives:

If you live forever, then what's the hurry? Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? There is perhaps no greater de-motivating force than the knowledge you will live forever. If true, then knowledge of your mortality may also be a force unto life itself - the urge to achieve, and the need to express love and affection now, not later. Mathematically, if death gives meaning to life, then to live forever is to live a life with no meaning at all. For these reasons death may be more important to our state of mind than we are willing to recognize.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sin brought a curse (Gen. 3:16-19) and our current fallen state (Rom. 3:10). God did not want us to live forever in that condition (Gen. 3:22). Christ came to give us eternal life so that we might live forever in heaven, renewed and restored (1 Cor. 15:46-49).

Passengers on an Emirates flight bound for Auckland, New Zealand that left Dubai one Friday morning ended up landing back at the same airport where it took off a little more than 13 hours later.

Flight EK448 departed at 10:30 a.m. local time but the pilot turned around nearly halfway into the almost 9,000-mile journey, landing back in Dubai just after midnight Saturday, according to FlightAware.

Auckland Airport was forced to close due to severe flooding. The airport statement said, "Auckland Airport has been assessing the damage to our international terminal and unfortunately determined that no international flights can operate today. We know this is extremely frustrating but the safety of passengers is our top priority."

Emirates said in a statement, "We regret the inconvenience caused to customers. Emirates will continue to monitor the situation in Auckland and issue updates where required."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Have you ever started on a long trip only to experience one complication after another only to find yourself right back where you started? In that case, you might begin to understand the frustration of the Israelites, who through disobedience, had to turn away in sight of the Promised Land and spend 40 years going around in circles in the desert before they returned to where they had started on the border of the Promised Land.

In Major League Baseball, it’s common for umpires to eject players or team personnel whose behavior is deemed out of line. But rarely does those ejected include the grounds crew. MLB umpire crew chief Terry Timmons later denied ejecting them, per se, but that’s what he appeared to do during a mid-September game between the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Yankees.

The Orioles had a one-run lead when storm clouds were gathering overhead and it appeared as though rain was imminent. As is their duty, the grounds crew stood beyond the first base line holding their massive tarp, ready to spread it over the field to protect it from rainfall. That is, until Timmons emphatically waved them off of the field. It was the ninth inning, and Timmons wanted to finish the game. After the game Timmons texted the Associated Press, "I didn't 'eject' the grounds crew. I just didn't want all of them behind the tarp, especially with the infield in.''

Timmons’ unspoken but understandable concern was with avoiding an unnecessary delay to the game. It takes time for the grounds crew to either cover or uncover the field, and that doesn’t even include whatever delay the rain itself might incur. With the game so close to its conclusion, Timmons’ desire echoed that of many American workers; after a long day of work, he just wanted to go home.

A few minutes after the grounds crew was ushered away, Yankees batter Brett Gardner ended up hitting a two-run single to win the game.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we serve the Lord, we must have sound judgment. Wisdom isn't just mindlessly applying the same standard to every situation, but assessing the time and situation to continually discern the most prudent course of action.

They say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But for one doctor, the cost of lacking such prevention is much more costly. In fact, it’s costing people their lives. Dr. Brytney Cobia is at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, and she’s been treating coronavirus patients, some who are vaccinated, and some who aren’t. The difference between those who make it and those who don’t is as obvious as it is heartbreaking. She said,

I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that I’m sorry, but it’s too late.

As of July (2021), the state of Alabama had the lowest vaccination rate of the nation, with only about 33% of its residents fully vaccinated. Because of the rise of the virus’ Delta variant, Alabama hospitals are experiencing a dramatic surge in COVID-related hospital visits. And according to Dr. Cobia, deathly sickness in someone’s inner circle is the only thing that will get some folks to consider taking the vaccine.

A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.

They cry. And they tell me they didn't know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn't get as sick. But they were wrong. And they wish they could go back. But they can't. So, they thank me, and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write the death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.

Possible Preaching Angle:

1) Lives are damaged and even lost when people choose a convenient untruth instead of an inconvenient truth. Some refuse to take heed until the danger is imminent, but by then it's often too late to do anything meaningful. The time to act with prudence is before the danger overwhelms. 2) In the spiritual realm people also procrastinate making a decision for salvation and it threatens their eternal destiny.

In October of 2019, Bert terHart boarded a 40’ ocean fairing sailboat and set sail from Victoria, BC. His objective was to become the first North American to ever circumnavigate the globe solo, using only a sextant, pen, paper, and almanac for navigation. On July 28, 2020, after 267 days at sea, he sailed back into Victoria having accomplished his goal.

While on the open seas, he faced extreme weather, regular 12’ to 14’ ocean swells, unforeseen ship repairs, and severe sleep deprivation. But in spite of these dangers, he was dubbed “the safest man on earth.”

When terHart set sail, we had never heard of Covid-19 (or words like "social distancing," "flatten the curve," "shelter-in-place,” or “self-quarantine”). And while he was on the open ocean, terHart was safe from all of it.

In a recent interview with Travel+Leisure, terHart described what he hoped to accomplish by his journey; “I wanted to inspire people to take that first step forward. … Once you take that first step, the next step is easier, and the step after that becomes easier."

Possible Preaching Angle:

Following God often means a journey into uncertain seas. This often puts us into a posture of procrastination. We delay for a season as we wait to feel more certain, and safer. Take the first step forward. The next step will be easier and the step after that easier still. You are never safer than when in the will of God, in fact, you are "the safest man (or woman) on earth."

In the classic Russian novel Eugene Onegin, a jaded aristocrat Onegin, meets an innocent young girl in the countryside. The girl, Tatyana, writes him a letter, offering him her love. Onegin does not reply. When they meet again, he turns her down: the letter was touching, he tells her, but he would soon grow bored of marriage to her. Years later, Onegin enters a St. Petersburg party and sees a stunningly beautiful woman. It is Tatyana. But she is now married. Onegin falls in love with her. He tries desperately to win her back. But Tatyana refuses him. Once, the door was open: she offered him her love. Now it is shut.

For many of us, it is easy to reject Jesus now. Like Tatyana's letter to Onegin, his offer is touching. But we believe we will be happier without such a commitment. We worry he will cramp our style, so we move on with life and leave him in the spiritual countryside. One day, the Bible warns, we will see Jesus in all his glory, our eyes painfully open to his majesty. We will know in that moment that all our greatest treasures were nothing compared with him, and we will bitterly regret that decision. But it will be no more unfair than Tatyana's rejection of Onegin. If we accept Jesus now, we will live with him forever in a fullness of life we cannot imagine. If we reject him, he will one day reject us, and we will be eternally devastated. The choice is ours.

The Italians have a legend about a woman named Befana who lived along the dusty road that led to Bethlehem. She was her village’s best housekeeper. Meticulous. Which was no small task with all that dust. Late one night there was a knock at the door and she opened it to find three kings in search of the baby born to be King of the Jews, the Prince of Peace. Frankly, what she also saw was all the dust that blew in and the dirt on their boots and clothes.

They asked to rest awhile and invited her to join them on their journey. And she said she’d love to do that but she had to get the house back in order after they left, and there was a load of laundry to be done. “Let me finish up,” she said, “then I’ll be right behind you.” And they told her all she had to do was follow the star.

She worked all night and finally, near dawn, she put on her heavy cloak. She took a little straw doll she wanted to give to the baby, and left her house—spic and span. But the sky had clouded over and she couldn’t see the star. It began to rain and her little doll was ruined. Finally, she gave up and went home. “I’m a foolish old woman,” she said to herself. “I missed my chance to worship the newborn Prince of Peace. Perhaps I will find him someday.”

So the legend is that each year she sets out with a bag of toys, leaving some at every house where there is a child, in hopes one of them might be the Child she missed.

When their wedding venue fell through at the last minute, Krista and Jeremy Bourasa decided to hold the ceremony at the groom's fire station in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, knowing it was possible an alarm could disrupt things.

They made it through their ceremony without a hitch, but while taking photos before the reception, an urgent call came in for mutual aid to knock out a fire engulfing a house in a nearby town. Krista told her new husband to go ahead and fight the fire. "I've got the rest of my life with him," she told Minneapolis TV station KARE-11. "They needed him for that moment."

Three hours later, Jeremy returned to the reception, and the bride and groom had their first dance. "That just kind of put the icing on the cake that I know she's the one for the rest of my life," he said.

Possible Preaching Angle: This wedding couple serves as a great reminder of the purpose of every local church. We are busy with church services, celebrations, and Bible studies, but we should be willing to be interrupted to carry out our mission to serve the world.

It's a common wedding scenario: ceremony takes place in one location, guests and wedding party hop in their cars and take a quick trip to the reception venue. Simple, right?

For one Ohio couple, things got a little more complicated. After their ceremony, Jeff and Rebecca Payne left for the reception, along with the rest of their guests. They were met with an unexpected (and unwelcome) surprise: a traffic jam that left them sitting on U.S. Route 35.

After being parked there for an hour, another surprise development unfolded. A couple of fellow drivers, who had "noticed the wedding dress and asked what [the couple] would be doing if they weren't stuck in traffic," had a creative idea: how about have the first dance right there on the highway?

Jeff and Rebecca decided to do it, getting out of the car and dancing to an Alison Krauss song (a bystander played it from their Spotify).

Another bystander, who filmed the dance, said that the newlyweds "were two sports. They handled the whole thing so well. They did great. The dance turned it into a party."

Thankfully, the unconventional first dance turned into a happily-ever-after: "[A] friend of the groom's father pulled up in the opposite lane, so the Paynes could hop over a guardrail, get into the car and start the rest of their life."

Potential Preaching Angles: "Stuck," "waiting"—they're not fun words, and they're not fun feelings, yet we so often find ourselves describing our situations with them. How are we hoping and keeping faith until we're able to hop over our own guardrails and "escape"? How do we live in the midst of our own traffic jams?

It may seem like the European Union has enough on its hands these days, but a local news story seems to be adding insult to injury. The capital city's infrastructure is in dire need of repair, and congested roadways that pass through tunnels are at the heart of it. However, the scheduled repair of these crumbling tunnel structures has been delayed—not by legislation or budget, but by mice. The construction plans, stored in pillars under a motorway bridge, have disappeared during the decade of waiting for construction to begin. According to former city infrastructure department head, "They may have been eaten by mice."

Possible Preaching Angle:

This embarrassing consequence of waiting too long is one that applies to many scenarios, but perhaps none more serious than in matters of faith and spirituality. Jesus himself says that the Son will return like a thief in the night—swiftly and surely. We must be certain to not let our families, friends, or even ourselves think that "there's always time" to make a decision about following God. At some point, it will be too late.

Repentance is always difficult, and the difficulty grows still greater by delay.

One of the wealthiest men in our community has the dubious distinction of having blown four children out of the saddle: one in prostitution, two in drugs, and the fourth one we've been looking for in every state of the union and thirty-some different countries for the last ten years. He sat across from my desk one day and said to me, "Hendricks, I put my money on a dead horse."

If I were to say to that man today, "Sir, I will guarantee to get your four children back if you'll do one thing," you know what he'd say?

"What is it?"

I'd say, "If you will cut off your right arm, I'll guarantee to get your four kids back."

"Give me the knife," he'd answer. He's made the decision now, you see, but it's very late.