Lessons from "Cooking Dinner"

I don’t know about you, but making dinner can be a process: well at least it is in my house. After a long day at work, I come home and I’m very tired. There are many nights on my drive home that I stop and think, “Take out sounds great right now.” But instead, I drive home to my wonderful apartment, and my wonderful husband. I walk in the door and I don’t say a word. Derek can tell I’m very tired and not really in the mood for cooking. He asks if I’m ok and I respond, “I’m just exhausted.” But despite the fact that I’m exhausted, I must admit that I truly LOVE to cook.

So I go to the pantry and take a look at what I have. I’d like to remind you that I’m tired from my long day… so really I don’t care what I cook as long as there is food on the table. The feeling of dread sits in. “This meal will take how long?”(Insert a “roll the eyes” here) But after wasting precious minutes gazing aimlessly in the pantry, I decide on a meal. Spaghetti… because it’s an easy meal and fast.

Noodles: CHECK, Spaghetti Sauce: CHECK, Basil: CHECK, Garlic: CHECK, Bread: CHECK. I have all my ingredients and now all I need to do is begin making dinner. As I start the tired feeling comes over me again; but I press on. I place the water in a stock pot and sit it on the stove. I begin to heat up the sauce in a pan. I’m getting the Garlic Bread ready to go in the oven. And before I could even stop, my attitude has begun to change. I’m whistling while I work…. I’m singing into a spoon… I’m dancing in my apron! Ok, I’m kind of crazy when I begin cooking, cant you tell? As I smell the aroma of basil being added to my spaghetti sauce, and as the noodles begin to boil, I am beginning to get excited about the meal that I’m preparing. As I place everything on the table, Derek and I are ready to eat.

We sit down, and I can’t help but smile. Mission accomplished! I lean over and tell Derek that I am now in a good mood! He laughs a little… maybe it’s because he can tell by the smile on my face which spans from ear to ear, or maybe he’s thinking, “WOMEN!” I don’t know, but either way, he is truly enjoying my spaghetti. We finish eating and we both sit back in our chairs. The satisfaction of the meal has now come upon us.

Then he leans over and says, “You cook, I’ll clean!” The cleanup process begins. Can I be honest? I really don’t like to clean up. But I really love making the mess!

You know, the process of dinner is very similar to my spiritual walk with Christ. Just like coming home tired, after my long hours, days, weeks, and even months of spiritual deprivation, I am weak, weary and simply EXHAUSTED. “Jesus said, ‘come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.’” Matt 11: 28-30

I know what this scripture means; We are called to cast our burdens on Jesus because he cares for us and he can make renew our passion for Him and his word; however, if I’m honest, I sometimes dread breaking open the word. Sad, yes I know. But if any Christian is honest, there are many times in all of our lives where we don’t want to open the word. Why? Because the word, which is alive and active, convicts us of our sins. But there are many times I think that my sins are so small. (how prideful of me huh?) Then I’m brought to 1 John 1: 8-9. “If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”

Thinking about a quiet time is sometimes too much, just like deciding what to make for dinner. Many times I get overwhelmed with what to read, how much should I read, how to pray, what to pray for, add your fears and “excuses” here….. But I decide I'm going to have my quiet time because it’s then that I realize that the word, prayer and time alone with God are the only ways to build my relationship with Christ. So I decide to dive in.

As I begin in prayer, my mind is being opened and my heart is being softened by the overwhelming love of Christ. Then, I open the word and I dive in, beginning to apply passages to my life. My excitement for the word begins to grow. While in the process of making dinner, I explained my attitude transformation from dread to excitement. It is the same with my quiet time. At first, sadly I may dread it. I may be too tired, etc. But as I dig into the word, I am excited by what I am reading. I am overwhelmed with joy about the freedom I have to worship and pray.

This could be what the scripture means when it says, “Taste and see that Lord it good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him” Psalm 34:8. Sitting down to eat dinner is a great time of day. As I said earlier, I can’t help but smile. Just like eating dinner, diving into God word is a sweet taste. This reminds me of my physical hunger. As the minutes continue to tick and I haven’t eaten, I get hungry. My body needs food in order to function. Likewise, there is a similarity between physical hunger and a spiritual hunger. Our souls are hungry for the word of God. There is nothing like filling our spiritual stomachs with the refreshing word of God.

Talk about the Joy of the Lord: Ps 16:8-11, Psalms 21:1-7, Ps 32:8-11, Ps 25:9, Ps 51:10-12, Is 12:1-3, Is 35:10, and the list could go on and on, but that’s another blog. Satisfaction. I sit back and think, “Man that was good!” Not only do I say that after I have eaten, but also after my time alone with God. Little did I know that my soul, my attitude, my mind, and my heart needed to be reminded of how powerful and delicious the word of the Lord truly is. Romans 15:13 says “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Finally, my husband and I have a phrase we use in our house, “You Cook, I’ll Clean.” It’s very similar in our spiritual lives as Christians. How you may ask? Well, after my time alone with the lord, I have had an adjustment, a checkup. Then my prayer is that the lord will remind me that I am a sinner, full of pride, selfish ambitions and quick tongue…... I am a sinner who is in need of daily cleaning. After I go to the Lord, I am renewed. This renewal is a symbolic image to me of the Lord’s forgiveness and process of cleaning us up.

While making dinner this past week, I reflected upon these thoughts. It is clear that the Lord truly does work in our daily experiences. Little did I know that cooking spaghetti could trigger such an amazing connection to my spiritual life, which in returned reminded me of my spiritual hunger and continual need and dependence on my Lord, Jesus Christ.