Every year I am obligated to attend an 18-hour training to
retain my accreditation and act as a mentor in the Education
for Ministry (EfM) program. I look forward to it every year. I finished the
seminar and was excited to go back to my online group and try to motivate them as I was inspired by my training group.
This year, our trainer presented a story about a man named
James. He was a very kind man, always doing the best he could to help others
and doing it joyfully. I can't remember the whole story, but evidently, James
was asked how he could be so good and kind when people sometimes mistreated him
or were ungrateful for his help. He responded, "We may live in a microwave
time, but we have a crockpot God." I admit I've been thinking about that
since I heard it.
It's no secret that we live a much faster-paced life than
has ever been lived before. In just my lifetime, I've seen the rise of
drive-thru restaurants, space travel made possible, more and faster automobiles
(now including computers, which weren't around when I was a child either), cell
phones, and the internet. I can now order whatever I fancy eating just by looking
up a phone number on the computer and then dialing my cell phone. I can get a
new book the day it is released simply by placing an order online and having Amazon
deliver it to my electronic reader. I can participate in groups like EfM without
having to drive to a church or hall at night, and I can wear my pajamas while I'm
with my group via Zoom. I can have my doctor call a prescription to the pharmacy,
who will deliver it to me within a couple of hours, and the pizza I crave comes
even faster!
I admit I look back at how things were when I was a child, where
I could read a book or play outside rather than watch TV or play video games. My
best friend was our dog because there weren't any kids my age in my
neighborhood. I don't remember having a library in our town until I was in my
teens. Now I can look up just about anything anytime, day or night, without going
anywhere other than my living room. All my neighbors knew me, and I couldn't
have gotten in trouble if I had wanted
to. There were just too many kind eyes keeping an eye on me. Looking back, it
was the kind of childhood I wish my son could have had.
Now, about the comment about the crockpot God, I admit, when
I first read it, I read "crackpot." Even on the second reading, I was
still trying to figure out what James was getting at. Then it hit me, James was
talking about God not being in a constant hurry like we are. God sees time
differently than we do, even though when creating the world, God set up the
precursor of daylight savings time and 24-hour service.
Crockpots take ingredients like meat, potatoes, vegetables,
water, broth, and seasonings, all put in and then covered. The magic starts
when the pot is turned on, and for the next few hours, the ingredients release
their flavors and mix to make an excellent stew or superb soup. The longer it
cooks, the tenderer the meat will be and the more flavorful the combination. It
even releases a delicious aroma that welcomes the family home from school,
practice, or work.
God works that way, slowly and thoroughly. God could say a
word or snap two fingers and change anything faster than an eye can blink, but
God doesn't do that. We often pray, asking for something to happen quickly to
heal someone or perhaps solve a problem right away. That's our microwave
thinking. But God may set things in motion and let time and a little heat make
the outcome whatever it is supposed to be. With a crockpot, it is good to stir
it a few times during cooking. The same goes for that period between asking God
for something and expecting results. Most of the time, God expects us to add a
pinch more salt or another ingredient that doesn't need to be cooked as long. We
have hands so that we can lend them where and when required.
I've learned from James's statement that perhaps I need to
slow down a bit, open up a little, be more helpful and cheerful, and be more in
line with God's thinking and, perhaps, cooking. I can't race through life,
ignoring people who need my attention or help. I need to slow down, look around
more, and be more deliberate in my living. I need to use the crockpot more and
the microwave less. And the big thing is to remember that just because I put
something in God's hands doesn't mean I keep my hands totally out of it from
then on. I need to stir the crockpot now and then and learn to help others with
deliberation and cheerfulness. I need to work in partnership with God – preferably
with the speed and thoroughness of God, in God's time, not mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment