The days have begun to get shorter, the days are getting darker earlier, and there’s a chill in the air most mornings.
It reminds me it is time to get out my burnt orange pot and begin to make some soup. Making a pot of soup does more than provide dinner.
The process is comforting, bringing peace to my heart and mind.
The water boils with the bones from a leftover chicken. Dropping in the seasonings and the bay leaf are done without measuring as no pot of soup is ever quite the same. Yet each pot brings the same nourishment to both body and soul.
Once the aroma fills the house, it truly is better than any candle.
It brings a sense of accomplishment as I know my family will enjoy each bowl of warmth and goodness. Those scraps of bones actually became something wonderful and appreciated.
Isn’t that just the way it is with some of the unpleasant and unwanted circumstances in our lives?
We seek to avoid the discomfort, we want to trash some situations that we are just done with and over.
But God …
He has permitted those very circumstances into our lives for purposes beyond our understanding.
Those words, bring the reminder of the time God gave Moses specific instruction:
“Then the Lord
said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the
elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck
the Nile, and go.
Behold,
I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall
strike the rock,
and water will come out of it, that the people may
drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”
(Exodus 17:5-6, NASB)
God provided for the need through Moses’ hand and staff. We can never fully know what God is seeking to produce in our lives. We won’t know until we see all the details come together.
Much the way the bones and seasonings needed to simmer a bit before the aroma filled our home, we may need to let circumstances “simmer” a bit before we see the goodness God will bring forth from these days.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His purpose.”
(Romans 8:28, NASB)
Reflection:
Take time to reflect on what is simmering in your life. Can you see
where God may be bringing something good in His time and in His way?
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
I am getting ready to put a chicken in the pot this morning--to simmer some goodness, too - and, oh, how my people enjoy it. You write about God's purposes for us beyond our understanding - I think we all have an inward desire for use to be useful, helpful to God, and that He wants us, trusts us to help Him shepherd all this children - the lost and the found - just makes me feel, kind of - wow! Reading your post made me think about how He simmers us. . . and then simmers the bone broth of us, too.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good reminder when we're waiting on the Lord for something--He's letting everything simmer until it's just right.
ReplyDelete