Marshmallow

#131: Sitting, Waiting

In the 1960s, Walter Mischel, a psychologist at Stanford University conducted the Marhsmallow Test on four-year-olds by giving them a marshmallow and telling them that they can eat it, but he was going somewhere and if they waited for him to come back, they can have two marshmallows. Some gobbled the marshmallow up as soon as the researcher turned his back. Others gave in after a long torturous struggle. Still others did everything else to keep their minds off the marhsmallow in front them and on the promise of a bigger treat. Some sang to themselves, others talked to themselves, some tapped their feet, some even slept.

The real discovery came in 10 years later when Mischel revealed that after tracking the lives of these 4-year olds, those who held out and waited to get the bigger reward turned out to be more successful individuals, having better academic and social skills. Because they knew how to keep themselves from getting distracted and knew how to delay gratification, they were able to achieve more and be better-rounded individuals.

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This morning, as I was praying for a particular concern, the Lord just reminded me of this illustration. You can have a marhsmallow in front of you - it is within reach, you can touch it, you can almost taste it, you can imagine the soft thing melting in your mouth, you're probably already drooling over it... BUT if you wait, there is a promise of something better... something more.

I've been writing privately the past few days. Snippets, disjointed thoughts, lists. Yes, lists of why things shouldn't be. I kill whatever is inside so that I can preserve my heart for things that should be. It's like that little kid explaining to herself why two marshmallows later will be better than one now. It's like the same kid having faith in the researcher - that he'll be back in 15 minutes and that he'll have twice the treat.

And so I will shut my eyes and sing. Maybe even tap my feet as I sting within. But I will forego this marshmallow because I know that He who has promised is able to give me, at His perfect time, a hundredfold of what is here and now.