Is it Time, God?

I’m no baker. I love to cook, but baking seems to be a challenge for me – unless it comes from a box with the instructions to add 3 eggs, 1/3 cup of oil, and some water. But, making something from “scratch” has just never been my thing.

Well, recently, I’ve decided that I’m going to teach myself to bake, from scratch (pray for me LOL). I’ve started with cookies, because, well, I don’t think you can really go wrong with cookies.

My first attempt was a caramel pecan cookie that I made using a bake mix I’d been wanting to try. I mixed all the ingredients, added my own flair, and popped them in the oven. Now, the box said to bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes – so I did that. I set the timer on my oven and waited until it beeped… after 12 minutes… I’m a middle ground kinda girl.

Once the baking sheet was out of the oven, I set it on a cooling mat for my masterpiece to cool. After about 5 minutes, I decided that they’d cooled long enough and I wanted to try one.

I took a cookie off the sheet, bit into it, and spit that piece right back out! It was too gooey – they weren’t done!

I’d followed directions to a tee and they weren’t done cooking yet. What to do? I stuck them back in the oven for a few more minutes and tried again. This time they were perfect.

Perfect Plans Produce Patience

In life, we often feel we have the perfect recipe for success. We put in all of our “ingredients” and place our masterpiece in the “oven” to cook.

There are very significant times when we step out, thinking that it’s “our time” and, unfortunately, things don’t turn out as planned. Stuff is still gooey in the middle and falling apart. Easily, without another attempt, and without question, we can give up or we can keep working so that things can keep baking.

What often happens is that we grow impatient when our self-made timer goes off and things aren’t done yet.

We must realize that God’s timing is much more accurate than our own. We must realize that man-made recipes don’t always line up with God’s will for our lives. See, those directions instructed me to leave the cookies in the oven for a set amount of time that wasn’t nearly enough for them to cook thoroughly.

Sometimes, we put a timer on things that actually need more time than we allot in life. There are times when we need to bake longer.

SO, WHAT’S THE PLAY CALL?

Patience is a task and often, as the saying goes, “good things come to those who wait.”

Yes, we must work because, as our Playbook says in James 2:26, “For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” But what I mean is, when God promises us something, waiting is often involved, whether He tells us to continue with our works or if He instructs us to be still and wait until He delivers.

Here are a few things to remember while your masterpiece bakes:

• God always has the upper hand; His plans will always trump our own. Trust the Lord’s timing more than you trust your own. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9
• Seek God. It is important to seek God for what He would have you to do while you wait. Often, what we do leading up to our end results affects the result itself. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33
• Make preparations. Even in baking, preparation must be made for the end result. If I had no place to put the cookies when they came out of the oven, they would not have cooled properly. And, if I didn’t have that place prepared in time, they would have burned in the oven. Be ready for what you are praying and working for. “Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house. “ Proverbs 24:27

Be patient, the timer will go off at just the right time for you!