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Open Immediately

The envelope had a specific command prominently printed on the outside.  It said “Open Immediately”.

Immediately normally means now or without waiting; without interval of time.

The envelope also had a company name prominently printed on the outside.  It was “Endurance”.

Endurance normally is the ability to sustain a prolonged effort or activity; the ability to keep doing something difficult, unpleasant, or painful for a long time.

There are times when we want God to respond immediately, as without interval of time:

“But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!”  (Ps 22:19).

And there are other times when we are glad that God responds slowly, as in sustained over a long time:

 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,” (Ex 34:6)

Intentional or not, the printing on that envelope was a contradiction in terms, also known as an oxymoron.  An oxymoron is defined as something that has incongruous or contradictory elements. 

We can be very glad and so very grateful that God never acts in contradictory or incongruous ways:

“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.  Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”  (Num 23:19)

 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  (James 1:17)

For the record, I wasn’t moved by the command to “Open Immediately”.

But I was bemused by the incongruity of it all!

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