The Best TastyKake Ever

Today I had a TastyKake. A chocolate KandyKake to be exact. Dark chocolate on the outside with chocolate cake lined with vanilla cream on the inside. After six or so weeks of a strict, low-fat vegan diet, I thought I deserved a treat. Besides, it was a miserable, rainy day, and my head already hurt. That was my reasoning. So I went ahead, indulged my craving, and let me tell you...nothing could have tasted better.

I felt a little guilty afterwards, knowing I'd pay for it later, but it was so worth it. The highlight of my day even. So much so that I'm writing about it now, on my blog that I rarely feel inspired enough to post. But it was just that good. And the whole ordeal got me to thinking.

As sinful human beings, we are more prone to give into temptation when we are weak, run-down, tired, and hurting--although rainy days don't help either. It's times like these that we lose sight of the goal and fail to persevere toward the finish line. This seems to go in cycles too. I can at least speak for myself that it does. One day I'll be strong and able to resist temptation, whatever it may be--even as simple as avoiding sweets because they're bad for me--and then the next day I'll be weak and indulge in the best TastyKake of my life! I've been thinking about this all day. Like many things, I knew there was a deeper, spiritual meaning just waiting to be uncovered, because "everything is spiritual" as Rob Bell would say.

Just a moment ago, I found this online devotional posted on a friend's Facebook page, and I clicked on it, hoping to read something inspiring, refreshing, strengthening. I believe it satisfies my quandary. Here's a little excerpt:

Delayed 

"Know of a surety that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not theirs; . . . they shall afflict them four hundred years; . . . and afterward they shall come out with great substance" (Gen. 15:12-14).

     An assured part of God's pledged blessing to us is delay and suffering. A delay in Abram's own lifetime that seemed to put God's pledge beyond fulfillment was followed by seemingly unendurable delay of Abram's descendants. But it was only a delay: they "came out with great substance." The pledge was redeemed.

     God is going to test me with delays; and with the delays will come suffering, but through it all stands God's pledge: His new covenant with me in Christ, and His inviolable promise of every lesser blessing that I need. The delay and the suffering are part of the promised blessing; let me praise Him for them today; and let me wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He will strengthen my heart.

     --C. G. Trumbull

                                     
Is God delaying something in your life? If so, be encouraged and take heart because delay is part of His pledge. We will be tempted by the TastyKakes in our lives to give up on God's plan for us when we are in the midst of the battle; yet, the hardship is part of the blessing. This is not a masochistic philosophy. However, I've learned that although pain comes when God prunes away the dead branches from my heart that bear no fruit, when I abide in his loving arms, He faithfully restores me and I thrive as a result (John 15). Even when we can't see Him working on the outside, we can have faith that he is doing a good work within us. That's the other part of the blessing of His promise to his children.

God is the potter. We are the clay. Our job is to be moldable. He is constantly working to refine us, and it's easier if we listen and open our hearts to His. In what areas is He desiring to mold and refine you today?

"Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand."

Isaiah 64:8