So my family enjoys a passion for cooking and good food, and me and my son in particular like to watch others cook, which equates to thorough enjoyment of the Food Network. Of course, my passion for cooking goes way back...before cable TV...when there were "real" cooking shows on PBS (i.e., no Bam, glam, glitz or plunging necklines:))
But I digress. So last night, as we are watching a recent episode of Iron Chef, my son looks at me and says, "Mom, you should be on Iron Chef because you are a great cook." Of course, being the insecure person that I am, I feigned thankfulness and backed it up immediately with, "well I don't think I could work under all that pressure, not knowing what the secret ingredient is."
Now my son is 13, so he is blessed with a world view still somewhat encompassed by safety, security and being provided for...in other words, he doesn't see limitations the way I, and many adults, do. He saw the basic truth...that his mom is a wonderful cook, and therefore, deserves a place on a world renowned show! He has really never known a bad meal at my hands. He has always had plenty, and he has seen creativity in the kitchen as I often don't cook with recipes. As far as he is concerned, I am the Queen of the Kitchen, and he has no reason to doubt my total success. He has absolute faith in me.
So what does this have to do with anything? Everything, if faith is part of our lives. Faith is believing in something we can't see. It is total abandon and trust, and it is absolutely necessary as we walk out our lives each day. Faith means we don't give up when things get hard, because we believe Christ is right there with us and carrying us, even if it's just one more step. Faith is believing that if we can give good gifts to our children, even though we are sinful, then God can give infinitely more to us as our perfect Father in heaven. Like a good meal that I give my son every day, my Father in heaven has wonderful food for me each day, in His word - the Bible. Has it ever let me down? Not so I can remember. Does He provide that perfect, comfort "food" when I'm feeling low or blue? Absolutely. When I'm rejoicing, there's a feast waiting for me...right there in His word. I don't ever need to fear going hungry. I have no reason to doubt my God.
So why is that absolute and abiding faith so hard? Well, oftentimes our life is under pressure. There are time pressures, money pressures, relationship pressures - and it's constant, every day. We carry the pressure of "doing the thing we don't want, instead of doing the thing we want" as Paul says. But....in this life, we can have faith if we KNOW the secret ingredient. Christ in us. That's it. With Christ, all things are possible. With Christ, we can know peace unlike the world offers, we can experience unconditional love, we can partake of divine fellowship with Him through prayer and worship.
So, while I might doubt my ability to succeed in Kitchen Stadium, I can know without a doubt that in the stadium of life, as long as I carry that secret ingredient, Christ, in my heart and mind - the pressure does not have to overtake me. I can create marvelous and wonderful "dishes" with my life as I put my faith in God to work in me...and I can be victorious.
