God is Cooking up Something Good

God is Cooking Up Something Good


We had friends stay with us this weekend, and Saturday morning
we took them to the open market in downtown Tallahassee. The
weather was perfect, and the vendors were selling everything
from classy art to kettle corn. Live entertainment was
presented near a sign that read “Donations = Music.”

My wife decided to buy a watermelon, as long as it met one
important criterion: “Is it seedless?” The man’s lips moved,
and made a sound like, “Yes.”

We fell for the illusion, which only wore off hours later as we
stared at a watermelon with more seeds than there are fans at a
Marlins’ game. The children hung their heads in disappointment
and went back to beating each other with sticks.

I, however, was suddenly coping with a suppressed memory. As I
stared at the melon it came to me. “Yes? Yes! I think we had
watermelons like this when I was kid. Watermelons with…seeds!”

My Mom Invented Chicken Strips

My wife will try to tell you that my mother must have picked all
the seeds out for me as a child. No; but one thing my mom did
do was invent chicken strips. That was long before they sold
them at stores or restaurants. Mom was the first one I ever
heard of doing such a thing, taking the bones out of the white
meat and making delicious little breaded strips of chicken.

I guess that was my favorite meal growing up. It was so much
better than chicken with bones in it, and I still feel that way.

I mean, take eating wings, for example. Have you ever tried to
satisfy your hunger eating wings? You’re actually burning more
calories working at it than you’re taking in. Eating chicken
wings has a negative calorie ratio.

Give me the boneless chicken any day, just like Mom used to make
it.

I want to honor my mother right now for all the meals she made
for us back when we were ungrateful brats who complained about
eating anything but candy. She could have thrown the whole
chicken on the table and screamed, “I hope you choke on the
bones!” Iinstead she lovingly slaved away in the kitchen,
preparing thousands of meals so we could grow up, move away and
send her a card every May with no money in it.

Good Cooking Takes Time

Yesterday in church this thought popped into my head, “God is
cooking up something good.” And I thought of the whole process
of cooking. It requires planning, getting all the ingredients,
having all the right tools, mixing everything together just
right, and on and on. One thing for sure, cooking up something
good takes a lot of time.

I confess I am part of the impatient generation. You know what
I’ve started doing? When I warm up my coffee in the microwave,
instead of pushing the 3 then the 0, I will push the 3 twice
so I don’t have to take the time to move my finger down to the
zero. Then before it’s done I’ll get tired of waiting and just
pull it out with 2 seconds left.

Our impatience sometimes leads us to believe that God is doing
nothing so we must do it for ourselves. Well let me tell you, I
believe that God is cooking up something good for each one of
us, if we will just be patient.

Don’t Rush It

Think of Abraham and Sarah. God told them they would have a son,
even though Sara was too old. They believed God - at first;
but then it didn’t happen quickly enough so they took matters
into their own hands. Through a surrogate mother they gave
birth to Ishmael, who was a thorn in their side from then on.

Meanwhile, God was still cooking up something good, and in His
perfect timing, Sara gave birth to Isaac. And through Isaac
came Moses and David and Solomon and even Jesus.

God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life

It may be an over-used statement, but it’s still true. God has
a wonderful plan for your life. He is cooking up something
good. Yes, it will take time, and there a lot of ingredients He
has to pull together to do it.

But once it’s done and you’re dining at the Master’s table,
you’ll realize it was well worth the wait.
Jan Bagwell
God Bless
Thank you Doug Chapman for this letter .