What A Spice Rack Taught Me About God
Here’s another post for my Christian/religious readers. Enjoy and let me know what you think…
I’ve always been a fan of puzzles; and to me, there is no greater puzzle than trying to figure out how to put different ingredients together to make an amazing dish. Due to my love of cooking I managed to amass over 40 spice jars in my kitchen (yes, I’m that person who forgets and buys another one before the last bottle is finished! 😂).
After a while, I got tired of having to sift through the various bottles and decided to invest in a spice rack. After looking on Amazon‘s website, I found the perfect one. It was the perfect size, perfect dimensions, had a spinner underneath, and had over 1,000 5-star reviews. I was so excited when it finally came in! Upon attempting to put it together, I got stumped on one of the steps.
The instructions were simple. But no matter how much I tried to push a support column into the hole, it just would not go in. I looked at the images in the instruction manual and was certain that I was holding everything correctly. However, the harder I pushed, the more resistance I seemed to get. I started to think maybe it was me. I asked a friend to try and they couldn’t get it in either.
After a while, I became convinced that there must be something wrong with the instructions (either that or the creator of this particular spice rack). After all, it shouldn’t take all of that work to get a column into a hole! I decided to try to fit the other end of the support column into the hole instead. All of a sudden, I heard it snap into place.
I proceeded to repeat this action with the remaining support columns. After putting the entire spice rack together, I was impressed by what I saw. The top was a teeny weeny bit wobbly, but other than that it looked good! I sat it on the counter so I could start to arrange the spices on the rack. As I proceeded to put my spices on it, it became very clear to me that something was not right.
In addition to the spice rack being slightly wobbly, the grooves embedded in the different levels of the stand made it impossible for the spices to stand up straight. While my pride hated to admit it, it quickly became obvious to me that my “perfect” spice rack had not been put perfectly together. I figured it was time to start from scratch; but when I tried to dismantle it, a funny thing happened. The support columns, which had so easily snapped into place, now refused to budge one centimeter!
After several attempts, I could tell that I was starting to feel very frustrated. I couldn’t believe that so many people had given this spice rack so many 5-star reviews! “Are they crazy?” “There’s nothing easy about putting this together.” “Maybe I got a lemon with lousy parts.” In the spirit of full transparency, I started to think, “I am definitely going to be leaving a scathing review on Amazon” 😂.
After my mental venting session, I recognized that unless I fixed the problem, I would be out $25—with no spice rack to show for it. So I did what anybody in my position would do: I called in a professional—my brother.
Now if you didn’t know, my brother is an engineer. When I pointed out what happened, and the way I had deviated from the instruction manual, he looked each part of the spice rack over and gave me the look… You know what look I’m talking about…
He then said to me, “You do recognize that you’re asking me to dismantle something that was made specifically to not be dismantled once it’s put together?” He pointed out that since I hadn’t followed the directions I had put everything in the wrong way. I don’t think I need to tell you how embarrassed I felt! But if I’m being honest, I had to acknowledge I was in a hell of my own making.
All of a sudden, it occurred to me: I wonder how often you (fellow Christians) do this in your own life? God gave guidelines for how you ought to live your life in His book, the Bible—the best-selling book of all time. But sometimes, when life doesn’t go your way, or things don’t look the way you think they should, you decide to do our own thing.
- Turn the other cheek? Nah, that doesn’t look right.
- Love your enemies? Nah, that doesn’t feel right.
- Don’t take vengeance on others? Nah, that doesn’t sound right.
- Forgive 70 times 7 times? Nah, that doesn’t seem right.
God gave you His own instruction manual: the Bible; but oftentimes, you become convinced that you know the right or the best way to do things. Then, when things don’t turn out the way you expected, you blame the creator as opposed to yourself for not following the instructions. In other words, you think you know best…until you don’t.
To my brother’s credit, he didn’t tease me as much as he could have (Lord knows I would have if the situation were reversed 😂!). With the use of some pliers, and a whole lot of patience, he was able to dismantle the spice rack and put it together the right way (saving me $25…and Amazon a scathing review!).
Once it was put together the correct way—the way the manual suggested—my spice rack was looking good! Not only did it hold up my spices but it also allowed me to organize them (no more searching through 40 bottles!). When I followed the instructions, everything fell into place. Sometimes in life you may feel that things aren’t falling into place as they should. But if you identify as a Christian remember that God ultimately does know best. Trust that even when things seem hard or don’t make sense, God’s got you covered. Trust Him and watch everything fall into place.
Be honest: take an inventory of your life right now and the choices you are making. In which ways are you choosing to do your own things as opposed to following God’s instruction manual?
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So true!! It’s so easy to try to do things our way despite the instructions that God gives us. It’s only to our detriment because at the end of the day, God is always looking out for us! Thanks for sharing!
Right?! We’ve all been guilty of it. Thankfully, God always has our backs even when we make a mess of things.