No, this is not an entry from yet another programme we’ve watched recently. Oh no. This is a lesson learnt from the heart of the kitchen of our home.
God has blessed me with a job that pays a fairly good wage. I cannot complain at how much I earn. It’s a fair wage indeed. Yet because of the family demands in one shape or another, we are not always flushed with cash and from time to time, things can get tight.
This is one of those times.
Those who know me, know I am not necessarily created for culinary delights. Indeed some of my forays into the kitchen have been met with derision, fear and a warrant for my arrest for attempted murder. (OK that last one was a joke, although some of the victims don’t see it that way.) So God obviously blessed me with a woman who can deal with making the meals in the home.
I will often wonder into the kitchen (on the way to the toilet of course, I’m not going to stay in the kitchen and ruin a well developed reputation) and in looking at the resources I’ll notice that we’re scarce. In comparison to occasions where it’s a case of not having enough room, the gaping spaces are huge.
Seeing that scenario, I confess to a little grumble in me tummy. The thought in me head ‘how on earth are we going to cope in this scenario’. You know how it goes, used to some little crumbs of comfort and even the crumbs are not plenteous on the ground.
Rather than make my grumblings known to my wife, I gird up my loins (great phrase, that) and endeavour to focus on other things. Whilst I carry on with that, my industrious wife does her bit.
Here’s where the A-Team come in. (Not literally of course, poor George Peppard is no longer with us.)
For the uninitiated, The A-Team is one of the best programmes ever. I’ll let the classic intro tell you the basis.
I’m not saying the programme was formulaic, (usually the precursor to me establishing just how formulaic the programme was) but more often than not, in every story you could guarantee there would be a situation when all four men would be caught by the bad guys and holed up in some crazy place, like a barn. Despite being in there, somehow or another the four men would find tools and the material to turn stuff in the barn into a tank with guns a-blazing. From a situation in which you thought their number was up, these four incredibly resourceful men turned it around to defeat their foes who had more sophisticated equipment and more people.
All of this was accomplished on the principle of making the most of what you have and making the most of what you have is as much about your mind as it is to do with the resources at your disposal.
Now I reckon we learn that when God tells Moses to let Pharaoh know it’s time to give up the Israelites. Mo says basically how. God says what have you got and notices the rod … and the rest is history. There’s the other A-Team inspired episode in scripture where Elisha is approached by a prophet’s widow who is also a bit strapped for the readies and he asks her what she has and before you know it this widow is doing a one-woman rendition of Dallas (the widow would obviously be Miss Ellie especially after Jock dies but before that other old geezer moves in).
Complaining is often based on what we don’t have, whereas, godly gratitude is based on seeing what we do have. And what we have isn’t always about what our physical eyes can see, but what the creative eyes empowered by faith can reveal.
So we’re back in the Dryden household where according to reliable sources (me) the cupboards are bare and stock is scarce. Yet here comes the industrious Authrine with a song in her heart and a baby close by, she will look at that same kitchen and provide an outstanding feast for her family. It looked little in the eyes of the reliable sources, it was plenteous in the eyes of the Lord. Just like the offering of the widow’s mite – it’s not just what we see, it goes beyond that.
This, then is another lesson I learn in gratitude. When I’m grateful to God for what He has given me, bit like me wife, then He allows me eyes to see what He is actually there. Such is the joy at who He is and what He is given that even the little is much.
Dear Lord help me to be hugely grateful for the little – and make the most of it.
After all, God loves it when His plan comes together!
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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