Don't Be Goop!

My thirteen-year-old son and I love to watch shows like Cake Wars where bakers rush under a time constraint to make the most delicious, creative, and outlandish cakes possible. It gets our creative brains churning along with our stomachs. To make a cake, the contestants put flour, sugar, eggs, etc. into a bowl and mix it up. However, just mixing those ingredients doesn’t form a cake. It makes goop. It takes the transfer of heat from the oven to transform the batter into a cake.

I enjoy reading self-help books and the psychologist in me loves to find ways to change behavior and thinking, but often after reading these books, I’m left with the feeling of something still missing. The author gives us all the ingredients to mix together to find happiness, and it might work for a short time, but something is missing. It’s only cake goop.

Often, we think, if we could just reach this goal, buy that nice house, or change our attitude, we will find peace and happiness. It may even feel like it for a time. If someone dips their finger into cake batter goop, it will taste similar to cake but becoming a cake takes something more than a change in attitude or the temporary high of reaching a goal.

There is something prideful about thinking we can create our happiness, joy, and peace. If we want to find everlasting, sustainable joy, if we want to be a cake and not just goop, we need a transformation from the inside out. Asking God into our heart, allows His love to heal our brokenness and gives us a broader eternal perspective. It allows His Holy Spirit to flow into our lives and rise into a new person.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”   - Romans 15:13

Side note: This is a picture of my son's 4th birthday, where a friend of mine jokingly said, "Go ahead and spit the candles out." To which my son did as he was told. Seconds after this picture was taken, I had to scrape off all the frosting.

Don't miss a post! Sign up for my weekly blog by clicking here: Lorri's Blog