The Perfect Loaf

I love homemade bread! And when I say I love it, I mean I’d choose another slice as my dessert rather than, well, dessert. Marrying into a farming family it seemed only natural to me that I would learn to make my own fragrant, tender, warm bread and so, I went to an expert, my new grandmother-in-love.

I was nervous and as the lesson began I realized I had reason to be.  Grandmother didn’t use a written recipe, she created her delectable loaves by memory and feel. As I tried to take notes she encouraged me to lay down the pencil and put my hands into the dough. Side by side we worked and with her guided help my first loaf of homemade bread baked up beautifully and tasted even better!

Fast forward to my own kitchen counter, flour covered and in disarray. As I stared at the glob in the bottom of the bread pan, my heart and hopes dropped.  I’d done my best to remember each step, to “feel” as Grandmother had taught me, and was sure to place the pan in a warm place to prove the dough like I was supposed to. But instead of rising many times it’s original size, there it was, just as flat and shapeless as when I’d put it in. Something or things had gone wrong that kept the yeast from helping the dough to rise to its full potential as a perfect loaf. I love homemade bread but…. not the kind I make on my own.

You know, sometimes I can feel like that lump of unrisen dough, not reaching my potential either.  Maybe you’ve felt that way too. At 66 years old it just seems to me that I should be further along in my spiritual life: trusting more, worrying less, giving more, slipping up less, studying the Word more, and fearing less. Instead I often feel like salt that’s lost its saltiness, a vine that doesn’t produce, and yes, dough that doesn’t prove. As I ponder this it occurs to me that like the failed loaf, maybe the problem is trying to do it on my own.

How often do I (or you) say, “I just need to try harder.” “If only I would….” “I can handle this.” “All I need to do is change….” I, I, I,I. It seems the more “I” work at rising to be who God wants me to become, the more I fall flat.

Isn’t it funny that I knew I couldn’t learn to make homemade bread without help, yet I attempt to “do what pleases him” on my own? Grandmother welcomed me to her kitchen and lead me step by step as she shared her recipe. She guided my hands and helped me experience the process of separate ingredients coming together to form something beautiful. God does the same thing for us, too.

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power
 to do what pleases him.”
Philippians 2:13 (NLT)

 I needed this reminder that we have Someone who works side by side and from the inside out to help us become more pleasing. The finished product may take being mixed up, kneaded vigorously, and stuck in the heat to prove. I don’t know about you, but it’s still a recipe that gives this 66 year old hope to keep going until finally one day I’ve become the “perfect loaf!” 

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you,
will continue his work until it is finally finished
on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

 

Joining with others at http://www.fiveminutefriday.com to write to the prompt, “Prove.” Click over to read more offerings.