Follow the Recipe
We have to stop adding "o"s.
Have you ever gone somewhere to eat, LOVED IT, and then spent hours trying to find the copycat recipe!? Or have you gone to someone's house, or eaten their dish at a get together, and had to muster all your strength to save some for everybody else?! Well I have! I like my food seasoned, thought out, and deliberate. So when I find something like that- I NEED THAT RECIPE!
More often than not, I'm getting recipes from friends, not trying to copy something from a restaurant. I'll plan a night it's going to happen, make sure ALL the ingredients are in stock, directions are PRE READ to avoid mistakes, and then I hit the ground running.
This is where it gets messy... not literally- I'm pretty clean in the kitchen for the most part because I get anxious easily. ANYWAY! So I start cooking. If it calls for X amount of onion, I'll probably add a little more because I love onion. When it says add X tsp of ______, I'll probably round it because I like to live on the edge. And when it calls for garlic, I'll triple it because I'm a rebel. I'll get everything mixed, stirred and sautéed, and then it's FINALLY time to eat! I've been reminiscing of this dish for days, maybe weeks. I've smelled it simmering for hours. The house smells AH-mazing from that garlic. (if you also considering tripling the amount of garlic in a recipe the standard, please let me know I'm not alone in the comments!) Then, that first bit happens.
AND FALLS SHORT!?!
HOW?! I didn't wing it; channeling my inner Gordon Ramsey thinking I can decipher spices and determine quantities!? I ASKED what that green stuff was! I made sure to buy the brand they recommended because it was tried and true. So what went wrong!?
Duh.... I modified the recipe.
Sure, I followed it, and then determined the amounts I ADDED would be better. Surely if I liked the other one, THIS would be FAR superior... <face palm> I messed up something I had been LOOKING FORWARD TO FOR A LONG TIME.
Surely I can't be the only one who strays from a recipe. Then it hit me. Me adding more garlic and less paprika wasn't the problem. The problem is that I think I can add a "touch of me" to something that is GOOD and make it "better".
That's a lot how life is, right? God has this kick butt plan for us. I'm talking SO GOOD that some of this stuff takes DECADES to reveal; a RECIPE for our lives if you will.
We're truckin' along, doing what we do, and when it starts to feel a little mundane or blah, we take it upon ourselves to "spice it up". We add a little more of this thing we've been liking. We distance ourselves from someone who's pointing out a few too many areas we're falling short.
WE CHANGE GOD'S RECIPE.
Sure, maybe some things we add or subtract leave us with something that is still pretty tasty, but it doesn't BEGIN to compare with what God had cookin' for us.
Control is a funny thing. So is trust now that I'm thinking about it. We say we aren't control freaks, and that we trust God. But if you're anything like me, our actions say otherwise.
Raise your hand if you ever think like me:
* God is in total control.... until something isn't happening how, or as quickly as I would like.
* I totally trust God, it will just be better if we do (or don't do) it this way.
* God's got this!.... I'm just gonna help Him out a bit.
* Trusting God is so easy.... except this problem isn't big enough to take to Him.
I'd be willing to be a LIMB that if I would have walked in complete obedience, I'd not only have faced a lot of the trouble and hardship, ridicule and hurt I ALREADY experienced, but the place I'd be today would be full of a lot MORE joy, peace, and love.
I'm not saying that we should feel bad about not walking in complete obedience in our pasts (nobody is perfect). It's done. Looking back does nothing for you. Eyes up- on the now and "not yet".
We do have the opportunity, though, to intentionally RESIST the urge to add more of the metaphorical garlic to the recipe we've been given (by the ULTIMATE CHEF & CREATOR no less!).
Stop adding an "o" to God's recipe. Sure, you might make it GOoD, but when you can finally STOP messing with his recipe, you're left with GOD, and HIS plan for you is so much sweeter (or savory) than you could have ever dreamed.
You're the ONE He left the 99 for. Stay out of the kitchen and sit at His table.