Written at the Beginning of December
There’s this running comment in our house right now, “No dessert? What do you mean no dessert?” See, Jeff, our contact here, has decided to quit allowing our fabulous chef Malou to make desserts for us because he says he has spoiled us and needs to prepare us for our next country. However, we went from being in the lap of luxury in America to Africa for 3 months and most of us transitioned our eating experience quite well but I understand Jeff’s point.
There is a bigger picture here though.
See, we got used to cake. We got used to having blonde brownies. We got used to having desserts not only for dinner but lunch too! And it just became expected. When we didn’t get it, we got upset…over cake! Seriously? Do we really need cake? Is it a vital piece of nutrient goodness that we need in order to survive or is it a blessing? How selfish are we that we get upset over cake?
Look at it this way.
We got used to air conditioning. We got used to having the biggest and best in terms of cars, houses, clothes. We got used to being able to just leave our houses to go get food at a grocery store or shoot, we don’t even have to cook if we don’t want too. We got used to having running water. Hot water. Showers. We got used to spending hundreds of dollars on the newest technology even if ours isn’t even a year old. We got used to being able to have the newest video game at $50 a pop. We got used to having Starbucks coffee and can’t settle for home brew even if it is cheaper. And when we don’t get these things we get upset…over stuff!
See cake is our blessings, our luxury , our freedom if you will. Or you could say “stuff”.
In Africa, all this “stuff” was taken away. Sometimes depending on our contact we might have a running shower or flushing toilet. That’s not the point. The point is that I never knew if I was sleeping on a bed or a floor. Did it matter, I had a place to sleep. I never knew if the water would stop working or the power would go out. Did it matter, life went on. Sometimes you learn to shower and shave in the rain, in a spring, in a river or you just go without. You learn to start a fire with garbage or cook everything you eat on one charcoal stove. You can survive without electricity and ipods and computers because you have no way of charging them. Maybe they’ve gotten stolen or lost or dropped in the squatty and you lose it forever. You can survive without makeup or shaving. You can live with only 4 shirts to change from and maybe not wash them for days. You can survive without coffee or chocolate and you’re grateful when you get instant coffee even if it isn’t Starbucks. See, the point is, God took our “cake” away in Africa.
So what was left? God.
Our focus was no longer on the selfish things of what can I get or what I can go do or what I have or even what I look like. It wasn’t about me at all. The only thing left was God. What did God want to do? Where did God want me to go? What did God want me to say? What did God need me to change in myself?
So, what happens when God gives back the cake?
Well, unfortunately, a new found freedom comes in and with that a choice. It’s not just about the cake. There is so much more “freedom” in the Philippines than in Africa. It’s much more western than Africa which means more choices. Not only choices in ministry but choices in things to do during free time like malls and shopping and tattoos and piercings, and going out with friends for drinks and the list go on. It’s like being in America all over again and one can get caught in the trap of blessing themselves instead of blessing others or allowing others to bless them. The mind then becomes cluttered with the decisions of what I want and when I want it and where I want to go and what I want to do instead of listening to God.
Sometimes God is going to physically take the “cake” away. Maybe that looks like a demotion, a car wreck, a thief, a house fire, a layoff or firing, a spill on an outfit. Then what? Are you going to get upset because you can’t get what you want anymore? What if God’s trying to get your attention, will you listen?
Sometimes God leaves the “cake” but we have to make a choice. Do I do it all on my own? Do I do it on my own and listen to God sometimes? Do I just listen to God no matter what even if I really really really want to be selfish and do things in my time, when I want it?
Even here, outside of America, sometimes God gives us the “cake” and sometimes he doesn’t. No matter what, it’s what we choose to do with that that shows our hearts.
Have you learned to be content no matter the situation?
Have you learned to trust that God will take care of you even when YOU don’t think he will?
Can you live with or without the “cake” whether the “cake” is there or not?
