One thing I love about God is that He can use absolutely anything as a teaching opportunity – even something as mundane as cooking. Consider the following ingredients:I think SUGAR is a good example of how we’d like our lives to be: sweet! Given the choice, I know I’d pick easy over difficult every time. The problem is we tend to confuse easy with good. Just because something is easy doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for us. Quite often it’s just the opposite. Just as a steady diet of sugar is unhealthy; so is a life of ease. We’d never grow strong without any opposition. God says in Romans 8:28 “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Not in some things, or in the easy things, or in most thing, but in ALL things.
When we were at an orphanage in Kenya, the children eagerly lined up each morning for a steaming cup of porridge, which was made of flour and water. Can you imagine a steady diet of FLOUR? It’s dry and bland, just like some seasons of our life seem to be. We’ve all had times when we wonder if God is really hearing us or if our prayers are just going off into empty space. The important thing to remember is that we can’t base our faith on feelings. We must base our faith on the solid ground of God’s word, which tells us in Hebrews 13:5, “God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
When I see COCOA powder, the words “dark” and “bitter” come to mind. Sometimes events in life can be painful and difficult to accept. We feel like we’re surrounded by darkness and can’t find our way. But the truth, as written in John 8:12, tells us Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” When we feel we’re in the dark, we must turn to God’s word, for Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
Have you ever melted into a puddle, like BUTTER does when put to the heat? Aren’t there times when we just can’t seem to pull ourselves together and get back in shape? Take heart! The One who formed us is the One who will transform us! 2 Corinthians 3:18 teaches us that we “are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” What we look at as falling apart, God sees as an opportunity for transformation. Praise God!
Have you ever been compared to VANILLA? I think many people, both inside and outside of the church, think of the Christian life as being boring like vanilla. They’d rather have a butterscotch ripple or cherries jubilee kind of life. You know, adventurous, not ordinary. The truth is, there is nothing more adventurous that submitting to the will of the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:37 we see that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Does a conqueror sound like someone who’s living a boring life?
When we were babies, we lived solely off MILK. 1 Peter 2:2-3 says the same was true of us spiritually. “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” We all start out as infants, but God doesn’t want us to stay there, our growth stunted. Paul told the Hebrews (5:13-14) that “anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
Do you ever feel scrambled, like a couple of EGGS? There are times in life when we have to ask ourselves, “What am I doing?” Paul articulated this struggle in the book of Romans. “7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…18…I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.” The good news is found just a few verses later: “Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” We’re reminded that we “:4 do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”
BAKING POWDER reminds me of the Holy Spirit. It is powerful. Look at what a small amount of it is used in comparison to the other ingredients. It’s God’s Spirit that lifts us up when we’re down. 1 Corinthians 6:14 “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.”
These ingredients are like the events in our lives. Individually they don’t give us an accurate picture. It’s incomplete. Just like in life, we have to look at things as a whole. It’s when we mix it all together and add a little heat that we get a true picture of what is being created. We won’t see the finished product until God brings our lives to completion, but I know one thing. We can trust that since it comes from God, it will be good!
Thank you, Father, for the adventure of living life in submission to you. Help me to always seek your will for me and never wander off on my own! I'm so glad you call me Yours!
Lisa
