Ephraim is a cake not turned…. (Hosea 7:8)
Some illustrations are easier to understand than others. Being an inattentive cook, I know exactly what happens to pancakes which aren’t turned. They are raw on one side and burned on the other.
Charles H. Spurgeon talked about that verse in the devotion I read yesterday, so I’ve been thinking about ways we can be half-baked. I don’t know about you, but I am often one-sided. I focus on one thing at a time and become unbalanced. The result is a life that is overdone in places and under-developed in others.
I particularly thought of the way I tend to focus too much on the past — my failures and the hurts others have done to me. Our loving God has a purpose for the fiery trials in our lives. They are to “cook” us and make us mature and complete.
But often I am like the pancake that sticks to the griddle. Instead of turning loose so that I can be flipped over and browned on both sides, I dwell on and fret about the fires. I’m sure I’m not alone. Perhaps that’s why so many people say they have been “burned” by the church. Instead of learning from difficult people and situations, they focus on them. They dwell on how hey have been hurt until the trials God meant to make them better, instead make them bitter.
My prayer is that God would make me turn loose of my past and my hurts and look instead to the future. There are amazing opportunities to serve Him ahead, and I don’t want to miss them!
We have had wonderful response from the churches we have visited so far. What a blessing to see so many mission-minded Christians!
Sunday was one of those big “push” days we sometimes have. Paul spoke at Grace Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas in the morning. After the service we had a five hour drive to reach our next stop, Cornerstone Baptist in Oakdale, Louisiana. We jumped in the car and drove “like Jehu” and got there in plenty of time for the five o’clock service.
Monday was an easy day visiting with old friends Bro. Jack and Virginia Duplechain. We had a great time of fellowship!
Now it is Tuesday and we left before six a.m. to head to Memphis, TN. I’m writing this on the road and will post it when we get to someplace with WiFi.
On the Road to Thailand,
Susan