A while back, my lovely mother and I discussed God’s promises. Or, perhaps more accurately, we discussed the misconception of God’s promises.
You see, God promised He’d take care of us, His children. Forever. This pretty much means that we’re promised oxygen and food and clothing. Matthew 6.25 says “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
So, in terms of this post, basic food, drink and clothing will be called cake.
In Matthew 6.25, we do not find a promise that we’ll always like the food provided. [Do you know me? I’m a very picky eater.] This verse does not promise we’ll have the top-of-the-line, high fashion clothing. Going a littler further here: Nowhere in the Bible do we find an explicit promise that we’ll have an impressive resume or all the shoes we could ever wear or scrumptious dinners every night of the week. God’s word doesn’t promise a new car or even your very own shelter.
All that stuff is icing. Icing on the cake.
I can think of endless examples of Christians who act as though God delivered on His promises when in reality He blessed the cake with icing, so to speak.
Cake may include any job which allows you to supply food, drink and clothing for yourself. Cake may include a car which allows you to get to and from your job which allows you to supply yourself food, drink and clothing. Cake may also include free lodging at your parents’ so you might maintain a car to drive to work so that you might make money to supply yourself food, drink, and clothing. Or cake may include a place of rest [like a home, apartment, or cot in a shelter] which allows you to rest so that you might effectively work a job in order to supply yourself food, drink and clothing. Basic concepts here.
My friends and I made some "dessert pizzas" last week. Cooke + icing + fruits! Sounds like God's gifts times infinity!
Icing is all the other stuff. A car with no rust. An apartment with actual pictures on the
wall. Yummy and healthy foods. The love of a Godly husband. Traveling the world. An iPhone. Eye glasses. Spring break. The Internet, complete with fabulous blogs [like this] and information at our fingertips and media which lets us keep in contact with friends and family near and far. A few pairs of matching shoes. Cushioned chairs in coffee shops like the one in which I currently sit. Waking up every day. Icing. Icing, I say.
Now, clearly, icing is not a bad thing. Icing is most definitely a gift from God. A gift! Have you ever eaten a cupcake without icing? Not repulsive, right? Completely palatable. Most, however, prefer to add some sort of icing: chocolate, vanilla, butter cream, etc. The icing simply makes it better.
I’ve quite a collection of icing. As discontent as I feel sometimes, the reality is that I am quite cared for by my savior. God has been so stinkin’ good to me and The Hunk. I could list my icing for pages and pages.
What about you? What is your icing?
Sweetly,
PS: I prefer my cupcakes without icing. This fact should not negate any previous posts.
