I remember when I found my mom’s index cards of various recipes in the kitchen. As I skimmed through the various cards, my 9 year-old self was determined to bake my first pound cake.
Unbeknownst to me, my mom didn’t write down the full recipe. She was an expert in baking; therefore, she knew the proper steps for the basic ingredients (flour, baking powder, eggs, butter, sugar, etc.) of baking and only jotted down a couple of notes and measurements that were unique to that cake.
My mom attempted to supervise but I was a know-it-all. I said, “I got it mom, I don’t need any help.” I didn’t ask for any clarification on the recipe.
I continued to dump ingredients in the mixing bowl, never realizing I was setting myself up for failure.
I was full of anticipation while I watched the clock and the oven. The cake continued to rise and brown in the oven; further increasing my excitement. In my mind, I just knew I had mastered that recipe and couldn’t wait to share the finished product with my family.
I took that pretty cake out of the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes. I grinned from ear to ear as I passed out slices of cake to my parents, grandparents and great-grandmother.
I can laugh about it now but that was the driest cake. In a loving way, my family made sure to let me know my baking skills needed some improvements. I tried it my way and I failed miserably! I had to throw the cake away and I was devastated.
The cake was pretty and brown but hard as a rock because I was a novice when it came to baking. I will never forget my mom’s reaction after taking the first couple of bites. My mom said, “Patrice, why didn’t you let me help you. The ingredients must be placed in the bowl and mixed in a specific order. You can’t just dump everything in.”
Just like that cake, many of us are pretty on the outside but dry and hard on the inside! How do you want your cake (life) to taste? If you want a good tasting cake, you can’t reject the key ingredients nor the proper steps.
There has been a time in our life, where we have all been a know-it-all and God just waits patiently for us. God is a gentleman! HE will continue to wait at the door but HE is waiting for you to open the door and let HIM in.
Things work out for the best when you learn to wait on God instead of making God wait on you. God is sensitive to our needs but HE never forces HIS love on us. When we’re ready, HE is too! Even when we’re broken and weak, HE still gives us strength!
The Key Ingredients
- Butter helps in leavening, adds moisture and flavor. Life gives us opportunities for growth, disguised as challenging circumstances. God will give you the tools to go through a test and share your flavor (personal testimony) with others.
- Sugar adds texture; making the cake soft and moist. Sugar compliments eggs and your liquid extracts. God’s blessings bring joy and sweetness to our life. God knows the correct measurements that align perfectly with the other ingredients; adding the right amount of crunch (individuality) just like sugar adds to the crust of a cake.
God knows how to properly disperse challenges and opportunities throughout our circumstances that will dissolve into our lives just like a baker who creams butter and sugar. We feel like life is beating us up but God is mixing all of the ingredients; making beautiful ribbons of batter (testimonies) and showing others our soft but individual edge.
- Eggs add volume and keep the finished product together.
Isaiah 41:10 (MSG), “Don’t panic. I’m with you. There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you.” God is holding you steady. He has a firm grip on you.
- Baking Powder is a leavening agent that lightens and softens the batter; causing it to rise. God knows the right circumstance that won’t cause us to be bitter nor dry but help us elevate and rise to the occasion.
- Flour holds all the ingredients together. God will sift through all your brokenness, weaknesses and sins; making you lighter and more uniform in texture, which improves your baking process.
Like flour, God will take all your ingredients and hold you together if you allow HIM!
God can’t do a new thing if we keep on doing the same old thing. When we present ourselves to HIM and approach him with humility, HE helps us overcome our struggles. You may have been side tracked but God has kept you. God has sifted through your ingredients and you’ve come this far by faith.
- Milk contributes moisture and adds color and flavor. God will take circumstances that appear to be a mess but are used as functions to build our strength and structure; giving each of us our own personalized message to share with the world. Our life experiences adds tenderness, flavor and moisture to our cake (life).
- Salt helps preserve the color and flavor of flour. Quite naturally, a novice in baking would probably skip salt because it sounds “out-of-place” but missing the step will make your cake (life) bland. If we try to skip the “saltiness” of life, our life will lose its flavor.
- Vanilla Extract enhances all of the ingredients in the cake. Without it, cakes are normally flat and bland. God takes the bitter and sweet, puts it in the batter, and makes us better.
The Preparing Process
Baking Powder, butter, eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt don’t taste the best individually but when you gather the ingredients together, they create a masterpiece. Our life is the cake and our individual experiences are the ingredients.
Are you willing to trust God and allow him to mix the ingredients together? You may be in the oven right now, looking at the clock and wondering when the timer will go off. God is a skilled baker!
We must trust God’s preparing process! Our greatest lessons (ingredients) have been wrapped in our greatest failures. God knows when the mixer should be on low-speed, when to incorporate more ingredients and when to mix the batter together until we are smooth and ready to bake. If we attempt to skip an ingredient or go ahead of God, our “batter” may become over mixed; therefore, becoming dense, dry and a life without a fairly uniform texture.
I Peter 4:12-13 (MSG), “when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.”
When you mix your own ingredients, your life (the cake) may appear pretty but when folks cut into you, you will be dry, tasteless and full of no substance!
My prayer is that you will choose God’s preparing process. He knows the correct measurements of despair, embarrassment, disappointment, hurt, brokenness and how to gather all the right ingredients; making us full of flavor, volume, texture, softness, and giving us a structure that can only make us grow and elevate to the next level!
For All I Trust HIM because I know God is mixing my ingredients (life experiences) that will feed others!