I
was just thinking about ...
Faithfulness
In Hard Times
Oh groooooossssssss; what is that smell?!? I turned to see my son’s face wrinkled up around the corner with a look of concern. For a brief moment, I thought he might actually be entertaining the thought of picking up the phone to call a HazMat emergency crew. “What’s making that stink?” I deadpanned back, “Supper, and it’ll be ready soon; you hungry?” With a light groan he turned and headed back toward the computer in the office. No doubt he was going to email all his friends and warn them that he might be sick for school the next day. Maybe even a stomach pumping would be in order.
I looked back at the vegetables in the pan, at the chicken browning in another pan and then at the unidentifiable sauce in a packet. Hmmm, it was brown and sticky. That’s about all I could distinguish. Then I took a deep sniff of the aromas bombarding me from all sides … and then quickly checked the expiration date on the package it had all come out of just a few moments ago. Yeah, it’s still good. Uh, well, at least it’s within its expiration date. Yes, there would definitely be prayers said before eating this meal.
I cooked up some rice to go with it. I carefully put the scoops of the mystery meal on a nest of rice to make it look better than it was. I yelled out, “Supper’s ready,” but only Ginsu and Buffy, our two dogs, came running. Everyone else was hoping for the others to take the risk associated with the first forkful. Eventually everyone had a plateful of it in front of them and deciding, after a few quivering deliveries to the mouth, that it was pretty good after all. As the dogs realized there would be no secret handouts beneath the table tonight, they shot me a look, as if to say, “Hey, we came running, we’ll like it! What gives?” Then they turned to vacuum the floor in hopes of finding spills.
Something in this series of events struck me. What originally smelled like last week's trash was now a taste treat the kids were asking for again. Somehow, the heating and stirring processes and intermingling of juices enhanced each other’s desirability. All the ingredients were needed. The exclusion of even one of the ingredients may have led to a culinary disaster. (Well, maybe not from Ginsu and Buffy’s perspective.) From this, I saw a parallel in life. Stay with me, okay?
How many times have we witnessed a life that we’d swear was a total mess? Or at least even a series of events that we thought would destroy any possibilities for a good life? Yeah, you’ve been there and seen them. One would swear that nothing good could come of it. All hope was gone and the dogs of life came around, ready to devour the trash. And then God happens. A person’s faith kicks in or God’s Spirit descends and suddenly the situation is salvageable. Good emerges from the horrid; beauty erupts from the profane and God’s goodness triumphs. That once unsalvageable situation is suddenly reborn to new life with increased vitality, vision and strength. Nothing is going to hold it down or stop it.
You know of some of these examples; Mothers Against Drunk Driving, street preachers who were former addicts or even abused children who found true love in Christ Jesus. The list could continue on but doesn’t have to be as major as these few examples. Every Christian out there faces pressure. Some will face horrible, traumatic events that will leave them with few options other than clinging to their faith or letting go of it. They will need to hold fast to their Savior and make faith a priority. Others, probably the majority, will feel pressures stemming from a humdrum existence; believing they don’t count for much at all. This also is a tool of the evil one. Because then, your dependence of faith will be lulled to sleep. For them, this also is a time to hold fast to the faith.
Hold to your faith and let God control the heat. I’m not suggesting that you not use stress reducing techniques to help out your physical health. But don’t curse the events that press on you in life either. Look for God in them. Let the Master Chef turn your life into a masterpiece.
Drop
on by anytime, I'll be here and so will God,
Dennis