Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Test #3

So it was a nice Saturday night, the kids were all in bed early, and I contemplated what I could do with the next couple of hours while Kurt finished up his sermon. Hmmm..... So I decided to bake some loaves of bread to bring to the Foundry in the morning. I had tons of rotten bananas, and cans of pumpkin, and I'm always prepared with the baking necessities. So I begin. I work the pumpkin bread first. There I was, happily bouncing around the kitchen, enjoying the process and the thought of ministering to those growling stomachs in the morning. 3 loaves in the oven, working on my first batch of banana bread, and suddenly, the mixer turns off, and ALL of the lights go out. It's completely pitch dark. I can't see my hand in front of my face. "KURT!!" I yelled. I was a little startled, and wanted him there. I fished in the drawer for a lighter, found one, and started lighting candles. As soon as things were under control, I realized the predicament...the oven doesn't work without electricity (of course)...ugh.
This is the dilemma I faced. From a human perspective, "AGH!" I just worked for the last hour plus to bless the lovely single people of the Foundry, and now it's all going to be wasted!!! Frustrating!
OR, I could take a godly perspective, and realize that God's sovereign hand was directing the electricity problems, and in the midst of His grander plan, He had not even overlooked my bread baking in the oven. In fact, He superintended me baking the bread and knew exactly where I would be in the process when HE turned out the lights (and turned off my oven...)
So, what was my response??? Thankfully, I think I've been learning my lessons... and I quickly recognized that God had complete control of the situation. I suppose I took my cues from my sweet hubby who reminded me of this. He prayed with me that the electricity would come back on (for my pumpkin bread!), then waited with a dramatic pause, hoping his prayer would be answered immediately (and being funny). Well, it didn't work as we had planned, but at midnight, when we were both asleep and the electricity turned on, Kurt graciously got up and turned on the oven. At around 1:00, I pulled it out of the oven, and the bread looked great. The Lord was kind, and when we tasted the bread in the morning, the texture was perfect!

(backing up) While we waited for the electricity to come back on, Kurt brought down the Bible and a devotional we have been reading at night together. He opened it to December 13, and began to read by candlelight. Before he got too far, I stopped him and told him to be serious... I thought for sure he was making it up to be funny... Here it is. It is from Spurgeon's,"Faith's Check Book" (see for yourself!!). It's titled,

"Evening Brightens into Day".

"It shall come to pass, that at evening time, it shall be light." Zechariah 14:7

I'll quote parts of it. "It is a surprise that it should be so; for all things threaten that at evening time it shall be dark (ugh, I know). ...the dark will not deepen into midnight, but it will, on a sudden, brighten into day(YES!!! and please, sooner than later). This promise shall assist our patience. The light may not fully come till our hopes are spent by waiting all day to no purpose (uh oh...).

Anyway, a little humor to add didn't hurt my perspective. And again, was this just a silly coincidence that the reading for THIS night was so ironic? Not a chance (haha). This too, was God's divine plan and certainly made the evening lighter (haha) and joyful, though my bread at this point was seeming a bit hopeless. Anyway, the Foundry enjoyed the bread, and we came out with a good story to tell.
What a simple truth to grasp. God is in complete control over EVERY circumstance. Nothing escapes His notice, and nothing falls outside of His control. He is not surprised by anything, nor does he take a "hand's off" approach. He directs our steps, and puts each little obstacle in our path, and all for our good. Simple. Obvious. Yet, I've found (and shared with you!) that I MISS THIS. The irritating things that go on around me get to me, and I am slow to see God's hand in many things that happen. Don't miss it. God holds the world in the palm of His hand, and directs each event, to the smallest detail. Every death. Every birth. Every car accident. Every earthquake. Every hurricane. Every sermon you hear. Every annoying driver. Every long wait in the doctor's office. Every blog you read. Rest in His sovereignty, and life is certainly sweeter!

2 comments:

Liesy said...

Thank you for posting all this the last several days. It's so encouraging and such a great reminder! With the birth drawing near I'm becoming more scared and nervous so it's great to be reminded that God is in complete control ALL the time and wants our GOOD! I sent you our address via email - did you get it? Have a great Christmas!

Happy Hollie said...

Love it! I love how the Lord gave you that great devotion at the most perfect time! LOVE IT!