Thursday, February 14, 2008

Banana Bread Manna

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT)

It's Valentine's Day. The Day of Love. We all celebrate it in different ways... for some it will be an all-out romantic event with their loved one, for others it will be very low-key. For some it will be celebrated with children, for others it will be with their friends. And still others will boycott the entire day.

Yesterday I got my Valentine from God. Pretty cool thing, as a matter of fact.

Let's face it; as Christians we know the truths of the Bible, we know the promises of God, we know God is sovereign and His plan is always best. But at times it is difficult to get that to jive with what we see with our finite eyes. We don't understand when God doesn't seem to be answering prayer, or when our needs don't seem to met, or when something tragic happens to someone who doesn't deserve it. It's not that we doubt God; it's more that we don't understand.

I was thinking about all of that yesterday as I got out my Grandma's family recipe book to make some banana bread with a bunch of bananas that had seen better days. I have been struggling with the "why's" of a prayer that God has not yet answered, even though I have been doing everything I know to do for almost a year. And yesterday a friend received some very tragic financial news. It made no sense. I know God is there and is able; I just don't always understand it when I don't see Him working in ways that are visible.

I opened the recipe book and began making the banana bread. As I was refreshing my memory on the necessary ingredients, my eyes glanced to the bottom of the page. When my grandma made these books for our family about 15 years ago, she included a Bible verse with each recipe. Guess which verse was staring back at me?.... "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding..."

Wow! I had just mentioned the other day that although my prayer for a job and a way to support my family has not yet been answered, God had been giving me other "gifts" in my life that were clear indications of how much He loves me. Here was another one.

God doesn't always work in ways that we can readily see. But that doesn't mean He's not working on our behalf. It doesn't mean that He won't keep His promises. It doesn't mean He won't take care of us. And it certainly doesn't mean He doesn't love us.

Look for your Valentine from God today. It's there... some tangible way He is showing you He loves you.

And when you're tempted to question His ways, remember my Banana Bread Manna and just trust Him.