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A Godprints Devotion

Godprints devotions use everyday objects and events to remind us God is at work all around us.  He desires relationship with us.  Devotions help us pause, recognize God's presence, meditate on His Word, and engage in relationship with HIm.

Rebake...God Can use Our Mess-ups!
A Godprints Devotion

Meditate:

Have you ever had a total "cake failure"?  I think it happens to all of us at some point.  They can happen in life too...mistakes that leave us feeling hopeless.

BUT GOD...

Two words that can change everything!

This was not my first bundt cake, but by far it was one of my biggest cake failures!

At the last minute I remembered I had wanted to bake something for a bake sale at church, but had no mixes and was missing other items. So I looked at what I did have.

I did have all the ingredients to make a “Hummingbird Cake” from scratch – I had the two bananas, crushed pineapple, pecans, cinnamon and normal cake ingredients.

I decided to bake it in a bundt pan. It had been a while since I had baked a bundt cake and couldn’t remember how long to cool it before turning it out onto a plate. Well…whether it was bad information or another reason, it did NOT want to be released from the pan! 

At this point…it was not going to the bake sale. Even icing couldn’t cover this cake disaster! I couldn’t feed it to my husband because he’s allergic to pecans! The choices were to throw it out or come up with another option.

I Googled. It was nice to know I was not the only one to find themselves in this predicament. I found great ideas such as crumbling to make cake balls or a truffle dessert, but didn’t have the right ingredients to accomplish those.

But as I tasted the crumbs (at least it tasted good), I did find an idea that seemed to match the taste...I made it into a bread pudding! There was HOPE!

It ended up tasting great and looking so much better…AND it made two desserts for the bake sale instead of one! I did make a small sampler to taste before taking it to the bake sale!    

Through the whole process I was looking for a lesson from God because I think He can use anything to teach us! In our Bible study we had been talking about “restoration” but that’s really bringing something back to its original state…that didn’t happen.

I thought about maybe it was an example of “transformation”, but that’s really causing something to become something totally different all together. Then I came across what’s become a popular buzzword – “refurbish.”

 

Refurbish –

“to renew or to restore to a new condition and/or appearance”


That seemed to fit, and this all made me think of how disasters, failures and trials happen in life and cause us to just want to throw in the towel and give up. They may be our own fault or no fault of our own, but what we must remember is with God there is always hope!

I love the prefix “re”; it means “again”. It’s a prefix that God uses often in what He does –

  • He REdeems, 
  • He REstores, 
  • He REnews, 
  • He REfurbishes situations in our lives that may seem hopeless, but there is always hope in Jesus!

No matter what you may be facing right now, there is hope!

I’m sure it’s more than a failed bundt cake, but hopefully even a cake disaster can remind us not to give up! Let’s take our disasters, our trials, our failures, our sorrow, our hopelessness to Jesus and ask Him to help.

Life may not come out how we plan or think it should be; it may not be restored, but refurbished instead. 

Jesus can bring “beauty from ashes” or for our illustration – a yummy dessert from a bunch of crumbs!

There is hope in Jesus Christ!

Bible Verses
Godprints Devotion


2 Corinthians 5:17- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

Hebrews 4:16 -  "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Isaiah 61:3 – “to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,”

Romans 8:28 – “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”

Colossians 1:27 – “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”


Activate:
Godprints Take-Alongs

These Godprints devotions are meant to be applied to our life, to be remembered.  Here are a few ways to do this:

  1. Take a pen and begin drawing a picture.  Pens don't erase, so wherever you make a mistake, redesign it into something new.  Or write the word "mistake" or "failure" and doodle & color until it turns into something beautiful. Hang it somewhere to remind you of this lesson.
  2. Bake a Hummingbird Cake, bundt cake, or other dessert for which you have the ingredients.  As you bake and eat it, be reminded God gives us all we need when we turn to Him.  Or give a piece to someone else while sharing the message of hope found in Jesus.
  3. Write one of the above Bible Verses on a note card; take it with you and begin trying to memorize it.


© Copyright 2017 Susan Smart


Find out how you can know Jesus Christ and find hope!

More Godprints devotions...

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