Delicious Steak!

I can’t seem to shake the thought of “TASTING” and “SEEING” that the Lord is good!  Ever since I started to study on this subject and wrote the last blog,* based on Psalm 34:8, the words pop up in my mind’s eye wherever I turn!  I keep coming back to the message of one needing to personally TASTE and SEE the goodness of the Lord in their own lives… before it can do any good for them… much less for anyone around them that they may be trying to encourage.

John Wesley wrote, “O taste – Make trial of it by your own experience of it.”  In the publication “Through the Bible Day by Day,” F.B. Meyers also commented “Some experiences must be enjoyed to be understood. There are not words adequate to tell of them.”

There were many times when Piper was sick when I would repeatedly attempt to tell different individuals who demonstrated little to no faith, of how much we were trusting that God was taking care of us.  At times they would look at me like I had lost a few marbles when I would smile and be upbeat about our circumstances while they were sad, glum and without hope. 

When push came to shove, I didn’t possess the words to convince them.  Piper and I had experienced of the goodness of God throughout our marriage.  We had an active, participative memory of the TASTE of His goodness to us…  We’d seen Him move in our lives in the past and had absolutely no reason to doubt that He wasn’t doing the same for us in our current situation!  They seemed** to possess no experiential knowledge of the TASTE of the goodness of the Lord in their life history… and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make our experience to be theirs!

Once again, The Passion Translation seems to bring out a fuller picture of what David was trying to convey in Psalm 34:8 saying,

“Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies he gives to all who turn to hide themselves in him.” 

Since this summer, I’ve gotten into the habit of Barbequing a New York Steak on Sundays with my new Weber gas grill… and I think that I have finally gotten the new grill figured out.  We got our original Weber gas grill as a present from my parent’s way back in the 1990’s and over the years I learned all the nuances of that unit. 

And now with the new one, it’s taken a while… but I think that I am beginning to understand this grill’s individual idiosyncrasies.  So, that said… if I don’t say so myself… the steak I BBQ’d last Sunday was PERFECT!  Medium rare with just the amount of red that I prefer!  When I was done with dinner, I sat back in my chair, patted my stomach and looked over at the dog who had been glued to my side the entire time I ate and contentedly told him… “Boy!  That was good!”***  And while I am not sure of the exact amount of time, I do know that I sat there for quite a while with a very satisfied smile on my face!

The example of the enjoyable steak dinner is a good demonstration of the way we as Christians could… and should feel after we “Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God” and personally experience the joyous… or better yet, in line with my previous example… the delicious meat of His mercies, faithfulness and love!

That is why and how I could be joyful and at peace in the midst of the trial Piper and I were going through.  The goodness of God had made an indelible mark on my life and even though times were hard, I could still savor and enjoy the goodness of God as I EXPECTED His goodness to continue in meeting every need we faced… and you know… contrary to what some people said would happen… He did!

“TASTE” and “SEE” are both ACTIONS that each of us – individually - need to take in order to enjoy God’s benefits and favor.  I’ve learned over the years that when I make the time, effort and commitment to TASTE and SEE the goodness of the Lord for myself… that in effect… I now OWN it and take PERSONAL responsibility for it in my life!  Once I have understood it, internalized it and personalized it… Well… it is mine and NO one can take it from me!

Our faith is a two-way communication between God and us.  The responsibility to do anything DOES NOT depend solely on Him.  We have our part to play as well.  I have heard it taught that God has done all that He is going to do for us through Jesus’ actions from the cross to His assentation and seating at the right hand of God.  Now it is up to us to take advantage and possession of all that is ours as found within the pages of our Bible.  The Bible in Basic English translates Psalm 34:8 as,

“By experience you will see that the Lord is good; happy is the man (or women) who has faith in him.” 

Are you ready to reach out, to TASTE and SEE and thereby EXPERIENCE the goodness of the Lord?  Well then… What are you waiting for… take a leap of faith and TASTE the FLAVOR of God being God in your life!

 

Have a GREAT weekend, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s best in your lives!

 

*http://pjberruto.blogspot.com/2021/11/how-does-it-taste.html

**I say “seemed” because I knew that some of these individuals had tasted and seen the goodness of the Lord in their lies in the past… but for some reason what we were facing (or maybe better yet… the way THEY faced what we were facing) was just too big or impossible for them to see God move…

***and don’t kid yourself… Fiver got many bites of my steak along the way!