It was my husband’s birthday. I found the perfect chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and ganache topping on Pinterest. I followed the recipe. Well to be completely honest I followed the recipe like I usually do. A little more of this because I slipped. A little less of that because I ran out. When I finished, every time I looked at the cake I laughed. It looks absolutely nothing like the three tiered beautiful cake I had started out to create.
Isn’t it funny how we can do the same things with our lives. In Jeremiah we read that God has plans for us. In some translations it says that he wants to give us hope and not disaster. Yet, how many times does our plan end in disaster? We may start out with the best intentions, but somewhere along the road it all goes awry. The ganache doesn’t set. The cake is too moist. The bills don’t get paid. We lose that perfect job. It is then that we go back to the book and try to figure out exactly where we got off track.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Whether it is a cake or an elaborate plan for my future my attempts at perfection are always futile when I do not follow His plan (or the recipe). The absolutely amazing thing about God is that he can make beauty from ashes. He can take the mess that we make and teach us a beautiful story of mercy and grace that in the end brings glory to Him.
“to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”
Isaiah 61:3 ESV
Lord, let me always follow your leading, but if I ever find myself astray let me know your voice and be led back to you.
Here are the cakes if any wants to compare… hmm that could preach too 😝
That Could Preach 