My life is a lot like a banana bread recipe read over and over, yet it never quite comes out the same as the last time you attempted to bake it. I grab the book, gather my ingredients on one side of the counter, and my bowls and measuring cups on the other. I read the recipe, and proceed to smash the bananas as it directs me, then adding in the butter, and suddenly I find myself looking at the cookbook only to measure my ingredients. There is no longer any particular order to what I throw into the bowl on the counter. I have made this particular recipe so many times, I begin to improvise a little, throwing in a dash of nutmeg, and using applesauce to compensate for the lacking size of my pile of bananas. I have no promise of the bread turning out the way I want it to, but I still put it in the oven, hoping I managed to remember all the ingredients and that nothing will explode. Most days it comes out fine, but each loaf is different from another. Other days, I forget to take it out of the oven and am left with something inedible.
God gave me the recipe for my life, or at least part of it. I always start out smashing the bananas before pouring in the butter, but at some point, I always deviate from his instructions. I've done this so many times, I know where each part ought to go, but I always want to put my own spin on it. I use different spices and tactics with the people I meet, trying to see what it takes to really become friends with someone, when all along, the best banana bread comes from following the recipe exactly. Better to follow God's plan the first time than to live a life of trial and error.
Hmm this makes me want banana bread haha <3
ReplyDeleteI get what you're saying, so that means the analogy works. I struggle with this all the time. It's like when you get back from bible camp and you're all "I'm gonna go home and read my bible every day, and pray for 2 hours, and go to church twice a week and blah blah blah" but after a day or two, you just stop.
The thing I love about God though, is that we have the ability to start over every time. When we mess up and the bread turns out horrible because we didn't do it right, then we can start over with a clean bowl and fresh ingredients.
We're all struggling here with you, remember that :) Don't ever try to be something you're not, because God made you who HE wanted to be. It doesn't matter what others think :)
I *also* am now craving banana bread.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning with God that it's less about formulas-- less about, "this is the surefire method that will work, every time"-- and that it's more about conversation. Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a time for everything... And often, one "time" contradicts another: "[There is] a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away" and so on. (Ecc. 3:5-6) So how do we know what time it is? By talking with the One who knows. The prophets-- and Jesus for that matter-- often got worked up about the unhealthy habit of assuming you can boil God down into formulas or rituals. The Israelites would get the pattern down, but wouldn't be genuinely consulting the heart of God. Yet what He desires is our hearts-- our humility every day, in acknowledging that we don't know quite what to do, and our request for His shepherding.
I guess all that to say, there is FREEDOM in your analogous kitchen. :) Do you always need bananas in banana bread? Yes. Get those in there. (Let's call that prayer.) Do you always need flour in banana bread? Yes. (Let's call that reading the Bible.) As for the rest: maybe you can think of Jesus as a bearded Julia Child or something, helping you figure out the rest. :) (Is that blasphemous? We can think of him more as Bobby Flay or something. Jesus knows I mean it as a compliment.)
So check in. Try new ingredients. See what turns out the best loaf, and learn from the loaves that burned. You don't have to get it right every single time, so long as you're letting your Master Chef talk you through the journey.
I really enjoyed reading this!
...And am still craving banana bread. :)
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