Turn Down the Heat

Lately, I keep finding the same thing happening. While I am cooking and simultaneously preparing food to go into the pot (cutting veggies, etc.), I find my prep work to be taking longer than I had anticipated. So I find myself needing to turn the heat down so the stuff on the fire doesn't cook too fast.

I thought the other day, while cooking, that this is a cool analogy for how God works sometimes! He'll start doing something amazing in your life. It starts with His giving you His promises of great things to come. But then things seem to slow down or stop, and you wonder if you heard Him wrong in the first place.

This is true of certain people in the Bible. Abraham and Sarah lived out a good example of this. God promised them that an entire nation of people, more abundant in count than the starts of the sky, would be birthed through their lineage! One problem: they were very old and had always been infertile. But they trusted God. Then some time went by. They actually took it into their own hands at one point and tried to acquire the same results by having Sarah's handmaid sleep with Abraham! She had a baby, but their method also caused pain they probably didn't anticipate. At last, God gave them a son, birthed by Sarah.

I find this right now in my own life. There are a number of things that seem to be on hold, or just going so slowly. Honestly, it makes me want to give up sometimes. But NO! God's promises are so amazing, and His timing is so perfect. I read once that if you don't allow a butterfly to fully break free from its cocoon, its wing will be permanently impaired. Imagine, all of that cocoon time, and not even being able to fly? Or think of premature babies. Have you ever seen a baby born at 7 or 8 months? I mean, close enough to 9, right? Ha, no way. Babies like that will not even make it without machines and lots of monitoring, and even then. But God is a God of completion.

So let Him do what He's doing. He is SO good and will see you through. And there is nothing He starts that He doesn't finish. He loves you and would NEVER just leave you hanging after promising you something. If it's hard, entrust your pain to Him and tell Him all about it. And the whole way, just enjoy His company, knowing He's got so much for you. It's like waiting for Christmas morning. Always worth it.

Be blessed tonight.