One of my favourite dish is good beef stew. The beef is tender and flavourful, tasty and nutritious. It takes quite a lot of ingredients, and perhaps a few hours to cook a really good stew.
Why I am talking about beef stew? Because it reminds me of PRAYER.
Prayer is like cooking a stew:
1) Select the ingredients – God chooses us and prepares the family and friends for us, in accordance to His plan
2) Wash the ingredients – God cleanses us from our sin
3) Prepare the ingredients – God prepares us in many ways, like “cut”, “shred”, “chop” or “slice” – those who has gone through tribulations would relate to these preparations
4) Follow the recipe steps to cook the ingredients – God shows us the steps to have a blessed life
5) Cover and simmer for a few hours – waiting on the Lord to work His miracles in our lives
Sometimes, we don’t follow the recipe or we leave out an ingredient or two, resulting in disaster. But our Master Chef God is always able to recover from our mistakes and make a delicious dish. Sometimes, He even create a brand new, even more delicious dish! There is nothing He can’t recover from. He is the God of Master Chef!
The most important part is the simmering, where the full flavour of the ingredients is extracted to give its wonderful taste and nutritious value. And that is why it is so important to wait on the Lord as He brings out our best qualities and bless us abundantly.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us – Ephesians 3:20
When we become impatient and try to “shortcut” God, we ruin God’s wonderful plan for us. Do not be deceived when you see nothing happening during our “simmering”, for this is the time where the best work is being done by God as He grows our character and extract our full potential to do great works for His kingdom.
If you are in a season of waiting – like I am – trust that God is working in our lives in wondrous ways.
Taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
- Psalm 34:8