“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord of hosts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV
What determines whether or not you eat food fallen on a contaminated surface?
Do you count seconds or simply sigh and pick up the dropped morsel in despair? Is it the surface that determines the fate of the food, or your love for that food?
Let me ask: how much do you love bacon?
Would you eat bacon if it fell off the couch, or onto the grass? How about if it fell on your heavily trafficked kitchen floor?
Yesterday, Mom dropped a sliver of crispy bacon onto the kitchen floor.
We both gasped.
Then I snatched it up.
“Mom, this isn’t good for your health,” I said, eyeing the crispy sensation. “I’ll eat it for you.”
As you can imagine, a battle immediately ensued over who should eat that precious sliver of bacon.
My younger brother Malachi intervened, insisting that neither of us were permitted to safely eat the defiled delight.
That was one instance where I was prepared to rush headlong into an instance where my wants nearly overpowered my needs.
The second instance has been in the making for nearly the past 6 months: battling the flu in college, returning home exhausted, refusing to schedule an appointment because I was afraid to hear what doctors might say, and facing a few close calls with health this summer.
Those choices and circumstances have ended with a rough decision: I won’t be heading back to college this semester, but will finish and walk in the spring.
But just like I battled mentally to succeed in eating that bacon morsel, I tried to find every solution to return to college.
After all, college has given me some of the greatest friends and memories of my life–I didn’t exactly want to part without a fight.
For financial and health reasons, I’ve got to put my desires on hold–even if that means saying, “See you in the spring!” to some of my closest friends.
I’ve got to put down this sliver of my life in order to receive something else.
Remember when that bacon sliver fell onto the kitchen floor?
Afterwards I devoured a full slice of bacon and some hash browns–and saying no to that one crumb really helped whet my appetite for the full meal.
I don’t know what the next 6 months will hold; but I do know that my Master Chef is cooking up some good things for my future.
My appetite has definitely been sparked, and He knows exactly what to serve–after all, He is called Master.
His thoughts are certainly above my thoughts, and His ways are providentially far greater than I could ever perform on my mortal own.
By now you know for certain that I love eating and talking about food.
(How you ever denied that fact or didn’t see it in the first few months of these blog posts is beyond me.)
I also hope you know that when life changes around you, we can still cling to our Lord, for in Him we can safely trust.
I don’t know exactly what the next few months hold, but I can confidently carry on, knowing that my Master Chef is cooking the perfect recipe for me.
Petals With A Purpose 