"As I assembled the items needed to make a family favorite, I couldn't help but compare the basic recipe for the chocolate cake I was making to the makeup of common, everyday life.
Begin with bitter chocolate
Stir in some dry, tasteless flour
Add several raw eggs and some sour milk
Mix thoroughly and add several more ingredients
Bake in a hot oven
The end result: a lovely chocolate cake.
Now, think about your life - the bitter, the dry, the raw, the sour, the mixing, and the heat. Sounds bad, doesn't it? And it feels bad when it is happening. But in God's hands, these things - these unpleasant and uncomfortable and unlovely elements and components of life - will result in something good. That's the promise and the hope of Romans 8:28. In God's hands, the ingredients of our lives will always work out ultimately for our good and, even better, for His eternal purposes.
The next time you are facing the bitterness, the sourness, the agitation, or the heat of life, let this promise encourage you to trust in the Lord and to love Him with all your mind. Know that God is in control And that His end will be good. Know that He will work together all things for good. As the saying goes, 'If you are taking a beating, cheer up! God is just stirring the batter to bring you a blessing!'" (Elizabeth George, Loving God with All Your Mind, pages 177-178)
As I thought about this cake story, I remembered an old recipe for a Wacky Cake, and my thoughts took another turn. One of the misnomers in life is that we should all be alike, live the same way, and be a part of the same group. But we are all different in so many ways. God loves variety. Just look at us! The only thing we have in common is sin - we are all sinners, all broken. But God uses our differences and His specific, unique methods to make us well-pleasing to Him. You see, God is beyond the confines of human boundaries. And we - we are His workmanship; unique, peculiar, and individual.
For all our figuring out, our study of Scripture, and the methods we develop, the God factor remains - He is still the Creator. While we know He always honors His Word and remains faithful to His characteristics, His work in the human heart is beyond our understanding. But because He knows the heart of man, the true motivation of every individual, and the choices we each make, He works with the exact amount of agitation, heat, and ingredients to create a beautiful, individualistic, finished product for His glory.
We grow frustrated when we don't understand or things don't go along with our program. He doesn't. He works according to the purpose of His will. It might look like a mess to us, but if we trust the Maker and His word, He will do the work no matter how broken we are. Trust Him - He wrote the recipe!
Below is the recipe for a wacky cake. There are no eggs or milk, and it is not mixed in a bowl but directly into the ungreased baking pan. Do you think it will turn out even if it isn't done like any cake you have ever made? It will. And so will your life, if you entrust it to the Maker!
Wacky Cake
1 1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup sugar
4 T unsweetened cocoa
1t baking soda
1/2 t salt
Sift the above ingredients into an ungreased 8x8 cake pan. Make three depressions and put one of the following into each depression.
1t vanilla
1T cider vinegar
6T vegetable oil
Gently pour 1 cup of warm water over the ingredients and stir well with a fork.
Bake 350/175 for 30-40 minutes.
Enjoy!
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