The Lord had a lesson for me this weekend.
It actually began when I thought I’d try to bake sourdough bread using a new recipe.
It was an utter failure.
I titled it “the worst bread I’ve ever made”and threw it away.
I decided to try again on Saturday.
Hubby and son were in town.
Anne was gone.
After some prayer and another recipe, I thought things were going smoothly.
We needed bread for the week, so I made a batch of French bread for our family.
Then, God allowed me another lesson.
Not only did the sourdough follow the poor traits of the “worst bread ever”, it happened to come out of the oven just before unexpectedly, our adult children arrived.
There it sat on the counter telling all of my failure.
Thankfully, God reminded me it’s important to simply be honest.
“What happened?!”
Came the same question as different people filtered through my kitchen.
“I don’t know. I followed the recipe exactly, but obviously something went wrong.”
Of course I just wanted to throw it out and stop answering questions.
But all those involved were curious and so we cut into it to find only the ends were eatable.
My son-in-law popped two pieces in the toaster and slathered butter on them and took a bite.
“It tastes good,” he said with an encouraging smile.
I tried to be encouraged, but was still struggling with disappointment.
Our church was having a spaghetti feed and everyone encouraged me to go with them.
“I’d love to, but I have bread rising.”
My batch of French bread was covered and sitting in pans on the other counter.
“We will take separate cars so you can come back early.”
By the time I needed to leave, our grandbabies were getting restless, so our daughter and son-in-law decided to return to the house as well.
I was surprised when the rest of our family returned before I got back in the house.
As we walked in I washed my hands and glanced at my pans.
I knew something was wrong.
Upon inspection, I realized my yeast must have gone bad, because everything was flat.
My husband tried to encourage me through a comment which I knew he meant to be “funny” and lighten the mood.
I glared at him across the room and began scooping the dough into the trash.
My heart was full of disappointment.
I had a dirty kitchen and no food to share.
My husband came over and hugged me and softly reminded me to enjoy the houseful of precious people.
God pricked my heart and I knew I didn’t want to allow my baking disaster to ruin the evening.
So, I worked at what I felt needed to be done and enjoyed my family.
The next morning at church the Lord used a line in a song to speak to me.
It reminded me of Scripture:
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 NKJV
I really believe this is true and although I don’t know why the Lord allowed all my bread to be a failure, I know He’s going to use it.
The lesson for me was walking in faith of something trivial and choosing to believe in something momentous.
Because my faith in God is applicable to every circumstance, big and minuscule.
I can smile now when thinking about my failure, because I’m glad God used it to teach me.
Psalm 25:5 KJV — Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for the lesson this weekend. Lord, thank You for Your unending care and tireless work on our behalf. Lord, Your ways are perfect and Your truth endures to every generation. Your Word is truth and we can find joy, security, and peace through Your salvation. Your promises are always true. Thank You, Jesus for Your love. Thank You for working everything together for good, for those who are called according to Your purposes. I love You. Thank You for first loving me. Amen.
(Incase you are wondering, the bread in the picture is sourdough, the third time it worked!)
patientlyhopeful 