Courtesy Pixabay

The following is an anecdote that has floated around the internet. It has a wonderful message, so I decided to share.

A while back I read a story of a visiting pastor who attended a men’s breakfast in the middle of a rural farming area of the country.

The group had asked an older farmer, decked out in bib overalls, to say grace for the morning breakfast.

“Lord, I hate buttermilk,” the farmer began. The visiting pastor opened one eye to glance at the farmer and wonder where this was going.
The farmer loudly proclaimed, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was growing concerned. Without missing a beat, the farmer continued, “And Lord, you know I don’t much care for raw white flour.”
The pastor once again opened an eye to glance around the room and saw that he wasn’t the only one to feel uncomfortable.

Then the farmer added, “But Lord, when you mix them all together and bake them, I do love warm fresh biscuits. So Lord, when things come up that we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we don’t understand what You are saying to us, help us to just relax and wait until you are done mixing. It will probably be even better than biscuits. Amen.”

Thank you to the unknown author!

This amusing story reminds me of Romans 8:28: 

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

There are many times that we don’t understand why things happen. Life has a lot of “buttermilk” “lard” and “flour.” Imagine trying to eat them separately… That would not taste good at all! 

But when you mix the lard, flour and buttermilk and bake it for ten minutes… You have delicious biscuits.

So, when we don’t understand, let us continue to trust God. He is making “something” even better than biscuits.

What are the buttermilks, lards, and raw white flours in your life right now?

Keep praying and asking God to reveal to you what He is mixing together for you.

I would venture to guess that when He’s done mixing, you will come out with something even better than biscuits.

“Help me, O Lord, to make a blessed use of all the disappointments and calamities of life, in such a way that they may unite my heart more closely with You.
Cause my disappointments to separate my affections from worldly things, and inspire my soul with more vigor in the pursuit of true happiness. Amen.” 

Susanna Wesley (1669-1742)

“Jesus replied: You do not understand now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

John 13:7