“Crock-Pot Living in a Microwave World”

bothers me. But not for the reason you may think.

The big four-oh really freaks out some people. They dread the prank gift of black balloons. A cake with forty candles triggers a bout of depression. No matter how the culture defines middle age, if our average lifespan is 75-80, then at 40 one has crossed life’s midpoint into the second half.

Yet advancing age isn’t the issue. It’s the biblical meaning of forty that unsettles me. When we see that number in the Bible, we should think “mega-size test” or “long, slow preparation.” 

For example, Jesus was baptized and then “was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil” (Luke 4:1b-2a, NIV). Definitely a colossal test.

Also, Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to receive the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. But that transaction was way too important for God to say, “Good to see you, Moses. Here you go, one tablet for each arm. Have a nice trip back down.” Moses needed to be completely ready. “And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights” (Exodus 24:18b, NIV). An extended season of preparation.

A Cooking Analogy

At lunch when I don’t have a sandwich or a salad, I usually use the microwave. I put in the food, zap it a couple of minutes, and I’m ready for ESPN or the local news.

Some mornings my wife Mary Ethel puts soup or a turkey in the crock-pot so it will cook slowly all day while she’s at work. When she comes home, supper’s ready. On those days, at noon I can’t press an “Add 30 seconds” button to finish the job. Even if I flip the switch from Low to High, the process must continue a while longer.

  

Sometimes we land in a spiritual wilderness amidst a 40-day story. God lets us face a major test. He brings us to the end of ourselves so He can prepare us for what’s next.

Forty-day stories require perseverance to endure a season of extended preparation. We not only don’t know what or where our next assignment is, we also don’t know when we’ll know this information. We have no clue when our path will suddenly lead from barrenness to abundance. Some 40-day stories take months or years to finish.

  

When God’s crock-pot tests my patience and my faith, I can count on three things:

1.   Jesus must finish preparing me for my next assignment.

2.   Jesus must finish preparing my next assignment for me.

3.   When Jesus completes #1 and #2, then -– and only then –- will the 40 days end.

The following are some of the things you and I wait for in God’s timing:

·       Someone to date or to marry. (Happy Valentine’s Day)

·       A pregnancy or an adoption.

·       Meaningful work that provides income and/or satisfaction.

·       The right housing situation. 

·       The return of a prodigal.

·       To be accepted or chosen.

·       Healing.

·       Forgiveness.

·       Justice.

·       Reconciliation. (Includes both forgiveness and justice)

This week I began a literal 40-day story. God nudged me to write a prayer He wants me to pray daily for the next forty. This must be from God because it’s not the kind of prayer I’d willingly pray on my own, but deep down I know it’s for my own good.

I still don’t like crock-pot living in a microwave world. Yet I am amazed at what God accomplishes for me and in me; and then, after the wilderness waiting is over, through me.

  

David