God Showed Up In Peanut Brittle #write31days

God showed up in my day...

 with peanut brittle

The first three ingredients are added to the pot and I begin to stir. Sweet anticipation for a shiny, amber brittle keeps me standing here at the hot stove, stirring the pot with a wooden spoon. Once the beginning components finally begin to simmer, I continue to stir. What I'm looking for is a wispy "thread" to know it's time to move on to the next phase. Until then, I keep waiting and stirring.

Once I notice that thread, just the right amount of peanuts are added. A new phase, but I'm still waiting and stirring. This time, waiting for that perfect golden color to bubble into being. Until then, I keep waiting and stirring. I can't walk away and leave it. It's a labor of love as the peanuts begin to cook and the wonderful aroma entices me to persevere.

Finally, at just the perfect moment, I take the pot off the stove and add the last of the ingredients into the pot. I'm not done yet though, I stir vigorously until all the components are thoroughly mixed...and then, it's time to pour it up into perfectly buttered pans which have been prepared ahead of time. Then, I shake the pans a bit to spread the sweet mixture evenly. Then, more waiting as the patties begin to cool. 

Sure seems like a lot of stirring and waiting at times to me. 

God does the same thing with my life. He begins a new work in me and waits. Sometimes I pass the test on the first time around, sometimes He has to wait and test me again and again. He never leaves me unattended however; He's always there monitoring my progress. Once He sees what He is looking for, I am moved to the next phase. He's making me into the vessel He knows I can be but it takes time and patience. Of course, He could work a miracle and, BAM!, it would be finished, but He doesn't work like that. He has a time scale all His own.

He's working toward that beautiful, sweet aroma and the final shining masterpiece.  He's waiting for me to shine and bring Him glory, and unlike me at times, He is not in a hurry. 

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it..." Phil. 1:6 

 

The work of making us all we should and could be is a process. Our wonderful Lord is all about us shining for His glory; about us being His representatives on this earth to show others the way. It's a work He obviously thinks is worthwhile. He gave His life as payment for you and I to be stirred until we're exactly what He thinks we should be. 

As I sample a delicious bite of peanut brittle, I am reminded how pleased the Lord must also be with His fine work. It's about the final countdown, the ending, the result. Let's be confident today that He is making us exactly what we need to be. We must allow the discomforting heat to change us, the stirring to temper us. ALL ALONG THE WAY, throughout the entire process, we will bring Him glory as we are perfected into samples fit for the KING.