The God of Vending Machines

Have we reduced our relationship with the Almighty to a vending machine mentality? Does the God of the universe represent a “ready, willing and able” resource for the whim of our needs and wants? Do we put in just the right amount and receive back an item of equal value from the menu of available treats? Do we rock the machine when it doesn’t respond as we expect it to?

Hopefully, you would see my thought process as absurd. Is it? Is that a dominant view of God? Although I am trying to grow beyond such a view, the vending machine view has been a big part of my life to now. Sadly, I must add. The vending machine approach has a close cousin, the Santa Claus approach, whereas I make a list of the things I want, submit it at the appropriate time, and wait with great expectations for my list to materialize. All the while, Santa is making a list, checking it twice, finding out who’s naughty and nice, before he comes to town. Because he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, and he knows if you’ve been bad or good. So, we should be good, for goodness’ sake!

The difference, I see, in the two approaches to God, is in our own minds. Under Santa Claus, we think we know what we need and have asked for such, within an extended timeframe. Under the vending machine approach, we have already made the determination of what we need, and we want it now. In both approaches, we rely on God to provide and assist us, and we are extremely disappointed when He doesn’t deliver as we expect.

The problem with these approaches is the recognition of who is God. Do we see God as helping us, or should we be helping God? Does He require our help in making Him aware of what needs to be done? In times of our helplessness, we sometimes feel that God must not see the need, nor feel the urgency that is required.

God expects us to pray. He expects us to let our requests be made known to Him. He expects us to pray believing that He hears, is interested, and will answer. But, sometimes, His answer is different than what we ask. Sometimes His answer is no. So, the issue is not in our asking, but in our response when God answers in a way that is not as we wanted, expected or intended. What do we do then? We’re not wrong in making a list, or ordering from the vending machine. We’re not wrong in asking for the things that we think we need. Where the problem arises, in attitude and perspective, is in our response to the disappointment with the answer we receive.

How do we respond when the answer is “yes, but not the way you asked for it”? Do we immediately begin trying to force His answer into our expectations? Do we ignore His answer and set out on creating our own solution? Do we humbly accept that He knows the situation, and the individuals involved better than we do, and we trust His answer as “the best” answer from a loving God?

What about when the answer to our request is “not yet”, which to us, who cannot see the future, appears to be “no”? Do we respond in some similar, controlling way as to attempt to affect the result within our timeframe? The choices are the same, and we have a choice to accept God’s answer with humility that we trust the God who knows.

And, if the answer to our urgent need is “no”, and we can see clearly that it is “no”, how do we respond? The same choices, as above, are there, with one extreme difference. When the vending machine doesn’t give us anything, we rock the machine, frantically push the buttons for “money returned”, even push buttons for items we didn’t originally want, just to get something for the effort, or money, we have invested. And if that doesn’t work, sometimes we tend to say, “then I’ll do this myself”.

If, hypothetically, our relationship with God were similar to a vending machine or to Santa Claus, it would distort the reality of the universe. The role of Creator and creation would be confused. If the answer to all our prayers, no matter how serious the issue appears to us, was “yes”, WE WOULD BECOME GOD. If we get everything we want, God becomes our facilitator and assistant, and we become God. Sometimes the answer is “no”, and it is incumbent on us to learn to accept the answer with trust and hope. We must trust God with our health, our friends, our jobs, our family, our tragedies, our fears, and our souls. Even when the answer is “no”. We must believe that He is faithful, and He will keep His promises. As one person shared with me, it is easy to say, “I believe in God”, and it is quite another to say, “I believe God”. And as another friend says, “it is a long way from the head to the heart”. Saying we believe God and living that trust, is a huge step in spiritual maturity and the cultivation of a proper relationship with our God.

Finally, in Philippians 4, we are admonished to “be anxious in NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

The real vending machine scenario with God, according to Philippians 4, is that we make our selection…………… and He gives us peace. Peace that comes from a humble, trusting heart that He knows, and cares, about all that would cause us anxiety. He wants to know that we know He knows and cares. Where there is anxiety, there can be no peace. Whatever troubles you, whatever wears on you, whatever consumes your thoughts and prayers, turn it over to God, REALLY turn it over to God. Press the “peace” button on the vending machine……. He will deliver.