I am obsessed lately with mud pies. I loved making mud pies when I was little. I could not wait to go dig in the dirt and get my tiny pans out and put mud in them and wait until the afternoon or next day, depending on the weather, for them to cook in the sun and dry. There are so many things that God has been teaching me but for some reason I just cannot get mud pies out of my head.
Mud pies can symbolize our creativity and the blessing of fun on earth that God gives us. It is simply fun to get dirty-well for some of us. It is beneficial to let go and create, mold and make. It is fun to put everything else aside and work on a mud pie or as adults we would call it a project.
Making mud pies because we were not ready for the real thing: God's preparation of us. When I was little I made mud pies because I was not allowed to make real pies by myself. I was too little to use the oven, and although I knew what basic ingredients went into making a pie or cake, I did not know yet what order to put the ingredients in or how much of each ingredient to use. There was wisdom in my mom not letting me make a pie by myself at that stage of life-I would have burnt the house down. There are times in our lives that we have to sit and grow and learn a bit before we can be allowed to "play with the real stuff"-do what we feel God has placed on our hearts to do. We may be at a stage where it is time to grow so that we can be equipped to "make the real thing" when God calls us to do it.
Philippians 1:6 "…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (NIV)
Inadequacy-It doesn't matter how much work I put into a mud pie, in the end, it is just a mud pie. Life is too much. There are too many needs to be met, but in the end, all I can make is a mud pie, which usually ends up in a mess of things. That is what keeps me reliant on my Creator, and humble. The only way anything good can come of what I do is because of God and work in and through me.
Living life intentionally: In the end, a mud pie is a mud pie. Psalm 90:12 "Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." We were made from dust and to dust we will return (physically)-just like a mud pie. To number our days, to realize that we have an end and we don't know how far or soon it will be, makes us live life more intentionally.
Second, third, fourth chances: If you mess the mud pie up, just add some water and do it again. God is more concerned about our heart than our comfort. He makes our ways complete. He is sanctifying us and working in us to bring His good work in us to completion. We won't get it right or perfect but thank God he loves us enough not to leave us alone.
James 1: 2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (NIV)
Comparing Mud pies: It may just be a mud pie but it sure looks a whole lot better than her mud pie. The truth is, again, a mud pie is a mud pie. They all look the same to God. When we compare our lives with others, we can always find someone that is "worse" than us. However, it is not other's standards that count, or even ours. It is God's standard. To understand this now, and compare your mud pie, take the "good person quiz". You know we all love those quizzes in magazines, go ahead, take this test. See if your mud pie is good enough to get you into heaven: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6t0s7fpg1M. This only takes 6 ½ minutes.
God has you right where you are supposed to be: Mud pies are mud pies no matter where you are. They look different because of the dirt/content, but they are still mud pies. Only difference is location. People tend to put us on a pedestal because we left our "comforts" of what we were accustomed to in order to move to a foreign land we knew very little about to serve God. Well, let me tell you, my dirt is no different from your dirt except in location. Dirt is dirt. God has us all right where He wants us.
What about you? In what ways can you identify with these "mud pies?"
barbara creech
Barbara Creech is currently serving as a Christian Volunteer with Operation Mobilization in Ireland. She celebrates 13 years of marriage to her husband, Ludie (“Loody”) and has been blessed with three children.
Barbara has lived most of her life with two philosophies: 1) You can do anything you set your mind to and 2) Pull yourself up by your bootstraps while smiling in the process. Those are great philosophies that can take you a long way, but they can only go so far. Through five miscarriages, personal betrayal, shame from bad life decisions and paralyzing fear and anxiety to the point of wanting to cease this life, she realized that life was not in her control. In this process God has lovingly healed and restored her to the point where she would not have chosen to go through the pain voluntarily but looking back she says she would not trade what He has done in her life through the trials for anything. She has learned what in her life was not honoring to God and with His help has turned away from those things and towards Him. Through this He has taught her more about His character, trustworthiness and love like no other.
Her passion is to share with others the healing and restoration that is offered through Christ. Her goal is to point to God’s true character as opposed to our slanted worldview of what we think God is like. She desires for all, but especially young ladies and women to realize their value in God’s eyes and how much He incredibly loves us.
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