When God Turns Up the Heat

I love my crock-pot!  Actually, I should say I love my crock-pots--I have four.  One is a jumbo size and is perfect for cooking soups and chili.  The next one is a rectangular one that I often use for cooking a roast or a whole chicken.  The next size down is a round one that is ideal for cooking baked potatoes and other side dishes.  And lastly, I have a tiny one that I use for dips, nacho cheese, or something small like cocktail weenies.  See what I mean?  I love my crock-pots, and I use them all the time.

I'm the type of person that works better in the morning.  I just seem to have more energy and motivation before lunch, so for that reason (among others), crock-pots are my preferred method of cooking.  There's something completely fantastic about finishing a long day of work and remembering that I don't have to fix dinner because it's already done and waiting for me in the crock-pot.  How wonderful! (I will admit, though, that some days it is difficult to smell dinner cooking all day without sneaking a small bite. . .or seven.  Oops!)

I am of the opinion that God is more of a crock-pot chef than He is a microwave cook.  Just look at His track record.  It took Him seven days to create the world when you and I both know that He could have done it with a single breath or batting of the eye.  He waited twenty-five years before fulfilling His promise of a son to Abraham.  He allowed the children of Israel to wander for forty years before finally letting them enter the Promised Land.  He postponed His visit to the sick Lazarus until four days after he'd been dead.  Over and over again, we see God turning up the heat on his children and then waiting for the perfect timing to perform His will.  Sounds like crock-pot cooking to me!

Here's the funny thing.  I enjoy crock-pot cooking when I'm the one doing the cooking, but when I'm the one being cooked, I'd much rather have the microwave.  It's quick.  It's easy.  Yes, the heat is just as intense, but it doesn't last anywhere near as long.  Yes, I'd have to say that on a spiritual level, I'm a microwave kind of girl.  But then I remember how much better things taste out of the crock-pot as opposed to the microwave, and I realize that God is doing me a favor.  Microwaves tend to make things tough, and honestly, they're really not good for us because of how they manipulate our food.  Crock-pots, on the other hand, produce tender, juicy foods and are perfectly safe because they don't try to manipulate the molecules in the food through some unnatural means.  They simply apply long hours of constant heat.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be tough in the sense of being hard-hearted and difficult to be around.  I don't want my circumstances or myself manipulated in a way that's not good for me just so that I can get out of the heat a little sooner.  Instead, I'd rather be tender-hearted and sweet, even if it means I have to spend time in the "crock-pot" of life.  I'll turn out better for it.  After all, God has never messed up a recipe yet.

Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. - Micah 7:7