As I sat there anxiously waiting, staring at my wonderful masterpiece in the oven to be finished, I was so excited! My first try at a new cake recipe (gluten free, sugar free) and I was feelin’ like chef Lisa with my huge oven mitts on. I just needed the hat! I was in between appointments, but I was craving something sweet! So as fast as I could, I was pouring the ingredients into the bowl, and determined I would have my cake within the hour.
I heard the buzzer ring, and you would have thought it was the finish line in a race. I sprinted! It was beautiful! I was so proud! I love to bake, but my skills as a gluten free pastry chef are severely lacking. The gluten free journey I am now walking through is a new one. But I am determined to make the best of it by golly!
The house was quiet, and I was all alone, which is rare these days. Just my dogs staring up at me sensing my “cake excitement!” As I sliced my first piece (yes, I knew there would be a second) I almost wanted to sing the hallelujah chorus! This was my first taste of anything sweet in 2 months. Can you tell? I took my first bite, knowing how amazing it would be.....and my mouth came to a screeching halt! It was HORRIBLE! What kind of recipe was this? I knew it could not have been my baking skills! Surely I was not that bad of a cook! I re-traced my steps, and all of the sudden (not wanting to admit that I am literally blind without my reading glasses) realized that instead of cinnamon, I put in chili powder. And are you ready for this.... I left out the sugar! (or stevia powder in this case since I can’t have sugar) There it was sitting in the measuring cup, and right in front of me (which I realized after I put on my glasses) I felt like such a dork! Seriously Lisa? Chili powder? Fail!
Totally bummed, I threw the cake in the sink and mumbled under my breath....”well this was a waste of time.” But you know what is so funny, under my mumbling breath I heard the Lord say “Maybe to you, but not to me.” “What Lord?” I say that often these days....in amazement at what He is telling and teaching me. It was then that I began to see the lesson He was wanting to teach me from my cake disaster.
Many times in my impatience of “Hurry up Lord!”....I see that it’s like He’s baking a cake! Yep....being the visual person that I am, I saw cake! All the wonderful ingredients (gifts) in my life are delicately being put together. It’s measured perfectly, and it is not done hurriedly. (and He has 20/20 vision and no reading glasses!) He knows what it takes for a perfect recipe. He knows just how long it takes for the cake to bake.....but it has to bake. That means heat! Refinement! God has the ingredients together, and now the refinement. Some things are made beautiful by the heating process. In this case as He was showing me....He was working out the things in my life perfectly, some were in the oven.....the desert....the dry land.... the dark place (the oven!) But what comes out is a wonderful masterpiece! In that masterpiece come the answers, the healing, the miracles!
Hmmm. This put things into a whole new perspective. I knew these things in my heart, but today it just hit home. In fact His whole journey for me these past two years have been a journey of realizations. Things I was taught, knew, and learned my entire life have begun to become a part of who I am. I was living them, not just learning them. Instead of hearing about God’s baking abilities, I was watching Him bake...and it was my life he was baking! I have to admit....as I sat there reflecting on all of this I thought about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. (3rd chapter of Daniel) What a devotion to God they had! God really did spectacular things in that oven! Wow! Now that’s an oven story!
Yes Lord, I guess you did have something to teach me today after all. I will leave the baking to you! Off goes the oven mitt, and my ideas of being the gluten free Betty Crocker. I know God blows Betty Crocker out of the water anyway, and I know the cake He is baking will be unique, and complete in every way. It will be topped with a frosting of miracles, and healing, and it will be delightful! It is my job to give Him the chef’s hat, and leave the baking to him. After all who wants chili powder in a cake!
I think I’ll go to whole foods and get a fruit smoothie! Bon Appetit!
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