When Life Gets Gooey
A couple of days ago, I decided to make a pan of brownies for my incredibly sweet husband. He had been going out of his way to help me extra around the house, and I wanted to do something for him in return. (Yes, that's right, my main purpose for making the brownies was for him, not me. Got it?) Anyway, I mixed up the brownie mix according to the directions, baked them for the proper amount of time, checked them with a toothpick to ensure they were actually done, and pulled them out to cool.
Hours later, when I went to cut the brownies, I realized these brownies had some major issues. Typically, when cutting brownies, I place my knife at the edge of the pan and simply drag it across, slicing the brownies into nice little squares. However, when I attempted to do that with this pan of brownies, the brownies followed the knife. These were the gooiest brownies I've ever seen in my life. They were cooked all the way through; they're just extremely gooey. After several attempts at cutting them, I finally gave up and told Jason that we'll just have to spoon them out. How odd is that? (They still taste really good, just in case you're wondering.)
As I sat there that first day, spooned brownie in hand, I only laughed and said, "These certainly didn't come out the way I expected them too." Boy, is that an understatement when it comes to life! My life is not what I imagined it would one day be. In some ways, it's much better than I ever thought imaginable, but in other ways, there are some things I would change if I could. Yes, if I were in control of my life, things would be different. . .but I don't know that that would be a good thing.
I know I've said this many times, but it bears repeating. God sees the entire picture of what our lives can be and what they should be. He created the road map for each and every life. He knows which roads we should take and which decisions we should make. He sees both the beginning and the end. All we see are the immediate circumstances surrounding us. When life hands us something we're unprepared for, our first instinct is to throw up our hands and cry, "I can't handle this! This isn't what I was expecting." But I think the best response would be for us to trade our knife for a spoon. No, it doesn't work as well. Sure, it can get messy. But in the end, you'll still get to enjoy the fruits (or chocolate) of your labor.
When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade. When it hands you gooey brownies, grab a spoon. Make the best of each day and every circumstance. After all, God means it for our good.
Spoon, anyone?