A chicken pot pie with broccoli instead of peas is not normal.
You guys may not know this, because you are kind of used to my strange substitutions based on what we have in the fridge. But of all days, it was the day that I called our neighbor down the street, whose wife is on hospice care, and said, “Hey! I’m making chicken pot pie tonight and I’d love to bring you a plate of it,” to which he innocently said, “That would be great, thank you so much. I love chicken pot pie.” And then I looked in the freezer, and no-peas-but-lots-of-broccoli stared me in the face, and I thought, oh, that wouldn’t be bad.
And to me, it really wasn’t. But to Mr. Ron? Well, he was gracious when he returned the bowl, but the next time I called him and said, “Hey! I’m making chili tonight and I’d love to bring you a bowl of it,” he said, “Oh! You know, I think we’re good for tonight.” Which was probably the safest thing since I do have a habit of putting pumpkin puree and a handful of chocolate chips into the chili.
You three live in the closest quarters to me, plus you seem to be wise beyond your years sometimes when it comes to observing my moods and feelings. So I know that you saw how I struggled with the whole chicken-broccoli-pot-pie event – how I struggle with every “good deed” that I do when the spotlight of it is over. How I question whether I was overly friendly to the visitor at church; whether I blew it in teaching the Bible study; whether I sounded awful when singing, or said the wrong thing to this person, or said the right thing in the wrong way to that person, or put the wrong vegetable in the chicken pot pie that I was trying to use to minister to my neighbor. Second-guessing myself is one of my stronger habits.
I don’t know if you will also struggle with this, but I want you to know something that I have both known forever and am just discovering. If I can let it sit long enough and deep enough, I think it might just change everything.
Without faith it is impossible to please God…
In the Old Testament we read of Abraham, though obedient to follow God and trust in His promise, also demonstrating cowardice and lying at times, and impatience with God’s timing to fulfill His promise.
By faith Abraham obeyed…
We read of Isaac’s weakness of character in dealing with his sons.
By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau…
We read of Jacob’s deceitful and manipulative nature.
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff…
We read of Gideon’s fear and of Barak’s lack of courage and of David’s great sin.
Time would fail me to tell of Gideon…of Barak…of David…who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises…
The stories are there, and the weaknesses and the failures and the sins of the people, for everyone to see. The discipline of the Lord is there as well, with consequences fair and loving and hard. But at the end of the day, when it’s God’s turn to provide commentary on His children’s lives, His opinion of His children is not based on their weaknesses, failures, sins, or mistakes. It is intentionally based on their faith, and nothing makes Him happier.
God is not ashamed to be called their God…
If God chooses only to remember, to call to mind, the things that are done in faith, then that means that I am free. Free to serve Him and do good deeds and walk in obedience without fear of disappointing Him if I don’t do it perfectly. Where I sin, He will discipline; where I make mistakes, He will correct; where I fail, He will redeem. But I never have to worry about my reputation with Him. In Christ, when He thinks of me, He chooses to call to mind all the times that I have acted in faith, and to “forget” all the rest.
And that, to me, is a glorious forgetfulness.
