My husband has long been convinced that fried cornbread is
spiritual. He read something in the Old Testament about using the finest meal
to fry cakes in a pan. That is all it took to satisfy him that God actually
likes fried cornbread. Because I am of course a loving, submissive wife, I
agree and eat it with him. It’s my job
you know.
In Hosea 7:8, the Lord calls Ephraim a cake not turned.
Spurgeon compares this to a Christian who is mature and sanctified in some
areas of their lives but still raw in others. Since I have cooked a few
skillets of fried cornbread over the years, I understand what it means to leave
one side down in the oil too long. The bottom gets black and the top is still
gooey. So, does this mean that when we refuse to allow the Lord to
turn us towards his Holy Fire we are showing our gooey side to the world? And
even worse, one side of us is so drenched with religion we become burned and
distasteful?
God works in each of our lives teaching, healing past wounds
and bringing revelation about different aspects of His nature while changing different
aspects of our nature. It is important for Him to work maturity, character and
integrity into our being if He is going to be able to use us as He desires. And
so comes the cooking. (I am laughing as
I type this – what a horrible way to describe God’s faithfulness and
sanctification….but we are going with Hosea here.)
I believe the Lord allows (ordains?) circumstances in our lives
that will turn our gooey side to His holy flame so He can ‘cook’ that part of
our person. Could it be that perhaps
there are times when God steps back and allows this life to bring situations to
us that He can use to cook our goo?
Thinking back on my own past, I can remember times when life
threw me a curve and turned me in a direction that caused me to scream like the
little girl I am. Let’s face it, no one
likes the fire. When I hear someone say they just love the fire of God, I
wonder if they have really experienced the fire of God. Don’t get me wrong, I
love and cherish the results of His fire, but walking through it … nope, not an
enjoyable thing for me. However, once the Lord has proven Himself to me in that
area, the next trial doesn't scare me … at least not so much.
Fortunately, when God allows life to flip our gooey side
down, He walks with us through the trial. The truth that it is His fire means that He is in it with us. (deep sigh here)
We are individual and unique before God. Because of that He
works on a special timetable for each of us, according to His purposes and our
ability to trust Him. No matter the situation, I believe he will use it to draw
us closer to Him. It will increase our faith and give us deeper
revelation of His person. Whatever the problem, whether its pain, sorrow, loss, grief – if we
can bring ourselves to embrace it and trust God through it, we will be not only
healed but made stronger in Him.
Isiah 45:3 is one of my favorite verses. There are treasures in the darkness and the
greatest treasure is Him. Even in the
fire of His holiness we stand complete in Him and come out of that season
leaning on Him and moving forward in maturity and love. The greatest
sorrows of this life will work together for our good if we love Him and are
called according to His purposes. God promises that.
Turn me Lord and make sure I am fully cooked.
