“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.” In other words, if I want fruit from my mango tree any other time of the year, too bad, I’ve got to wait for it. 

Walter Mischel of Stanford University conducted a psychological study between 1967 and 1973 studying delayed gratification in small children using marshmallows. He told children they could have one marshmallow now or many later.  

A few children were willing to wait. Others waited but struggled mightily. A few children wouldn’t wait for the scientist to finish explaining the “game” and gobbled the marshmallow immediately. The ability to say ‘No’ now, in order to say a better ‘Yes’ later is VERY important. Are you willing to wait? 

Maybe you’re thinking, “What’s the big deal? I’ll get what I want now and later, I don’t have to wait.” In today’s world, this feels true; you can become an influencer overnight, right? Maybe so, but will you be prepared to handle the pressure, money, attention, and criticism overnight? There are some things you cannot get without waiting.  

Whether it’s a well-cooked steak, a well-told story, or a good doctor, if you want great, you’ll have to wait. Proverbs 21:20 says, “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” 

 

Most of the characteristics of relationships we truly desire like trust, loyalty, intimacy, and security come with time. Things like wisdom, influence, fulfillment, and peace, cannot be rushed. Businesses take time to become established and grow. Your body needs time to heal when it’s sick or injured. The rewards for waiting cannot be denied, and the consequences of not waiting are also undeniable. 

Consider financial investing as a concrete example of the consequences of not waiting. Investing money requires sacrificing something you could get now. In other words, investing is about waiting on the return and it’s worth the wait.  

If you put $10,000 in a Roth IRA at 18 and leave it there until you retire at 65, you’ll have $225,000. But if you spend that $10,000 dollars now and don’t scrape another $10,000 together to invest until five years later, at 23, when you retire at 65, you’ll only have $160,000. That’s 30% of your potential wealth, gone in just five years because you couldn’t wait.  

Waiting is about denying ourselves. When I deny myself something I want today, I often get something I really want and/or need later. 

Jesus wants us to deny ourselves, and pick up our cross daily, and follow Him. This is what He says in Matthew 16:24-26, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” In other words, the life you get by taking it now is nothing compared to the life Jesus will give you if you wait for it. 

Okay, so here’s a challenge to try…wait for it…The next time your phone buzzes with an alert, see if you can wait to look. Give it 10 seconds or try for 30 seconds or an hour. 

How did you do? Did you “take the marshmallow?” Here’s something to ponder: if not looking at your phone is hard for you: is it still something you “want?” If things in your life, (phone, friends, food, finances, fashion, fame etc.) dictate what you do and when you do it, are you really free? 

Try Jesus’ way and deny yourself. Lay down your life and follow Him and see if He doesn’t give you back the life you really want, a prosperous one filled with freedom, purpose, and fulfillment.