I was up to my eyeballs in chocolate over the last couple of days for a catering job that required a cake with chocolate frosting. I needed melted chocolate for the frosting recipe, so I read the directions. Melting chocolate, for anyone who does not know, is an art form. You have to have exactly the right temperature and you cannot leave the chocolate by itself to melt. It must be stirred at exactly the right time, but not too much or it won’t break down properly. Well, it was late at night and I did not want to be up until the wee hours of the morning, so I saw on the side of the package that you could microwave the chocolate to melt it. Perfect! I read the instructions, got the microwave-safe bowl, put the chocolate bars in, set the timer, and pushed the START button.
About half way into the cooking time, which was calculated correctly, I smelled something burning. I looked and saw smoke billowing in the microwave. Tears started to fill up in my eyes because, if this chocolate was ruined, money would have been wasted, not to mention I was going to have to go to the store late at night and get more chocolate. I took a deep breath and looked timidly in the bowl to find that one block of chocolate had burned to a crisp. There it sat black a charcoal, but it was right on the top, so I was able to scoop it out and use the beautifully melted chocolate beneath it. It only took about half the time the box had instructed for this chocolate to melt. So, I made the frosting, and taste-tested it, of course, and it was divine. As I was spreading the frosting though, I found a little chunk of the burned chocolate, so I pickup that up and tasted it, too. YUCK!!! It was bitter. I was glad to have found it because I did not want any of the guests to each it, as it would have ruined the whole cake, which was delicious. So, why am I giving a thesis on chocolate? I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate, mainly because of all the antioxidants and health benefits. Yeah right! Chocolate tastes good and it makes me feel better when I am down, which is why I was shocked to discover how bitter it becomes when it is not handled properly. We are the same way. Each of us has our own set of instructions. God knows exactly the right temperature to let things heat up in our lives. He never leaves us alone when the heat is on us. He knows exactly when to stir things up in our lives, so that He can properly break down the parts of our lives that we need to be rid of and use us in our best form for His glory. Instead, we want what we want when we want it. Well, at least I do. I do not like it when situations turn up the heat on my life, especially, if I have to endure the heat for too long, and I definitely am a creature of habit who does not like for things to be stirred up around me. So, what do I do, I (and probably you) look for shortcuts. How can I get the result that I want without going through as much trouble? We look for the path of least resistance. And, sometimes that path seems to work, giving us a false sense of security about who is really in control. Other times, we rush our lives and take a turn that God never wanted us to take, which may leave us feeling burned and useless. We try to move forward from the hurt (sometimes caused by our own actions). But, when we try to clean up the mess, we can only remove what we can see on the surface. And sure, everything looks fine and is going well until we get spread a little too thin. Then, you can start to see the little chunks of mess that are left behind. If we don’t remove them, they will affect our whole entire being; our spiritual, mental and emotional health. Because these little leftover pieces of pain are bitter, and I don’t know if you have ever had something bitter, but it does not take much too ruin your pallet for whatever is coming next. So, rather than enjoy the assignment, relationship, or blessing God has for us, we are still reeling from when we tried to take a quicker route to what we desire. The bottom line is that we have to trust God. We have to live out His process because He knows so much more than we will ever know about our future. I don't know about you but I don't want any little chunks of chocolate bitterness in my life. I kept thinking to myself that I followed the instructions and I made the right calculations, so I did not understand why it did not work out. All I can surmise from that it that there is a good way to do things and there is a right way to do things. A lot of people feel that if they are good they will be blessed and go to Heaven. And, while they may be respected and get what they want on this side of Heaven, there is more to salvation and living for God than just being good. The right way to live and be saved, the only way to Heaven is to admit you are a sinner, believe in the risen Savior, Jesus Christ and confess Him as your Lord. So, being good may get you the results you want temporarily, but being right with God, will get you those results and so much more eternally. Ms. EV
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