I don’t know about you, but I L-O-V-E dessert. It is my favorite part of a meal. In fact, there have been times when I have been out to eat with girlfriends and I have suggested we just skip the meal and go straight to dessert. I definitely think it should be the rule at The Cheesecake Factory.
Have you ever noticed how so many wonderful desserts taste best right out of the oven? My family will nearly knock one another down to get chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven, but then they’ll let a cookie tin of them sit until I finally throw them out. When I make my husband his favorite oatmeal toffee cookies, he will stand by the oven waiting for them to come out and then over the next few days he will put them in the microwave to warm them up before he eats them. Things are just better hot out of the oven.
So, why do we think our lives will be great without a little heat every now and then? We all want the “dessert” life but we don’t want to endure the heat. Without the heat of the oven, cheesecake would be nasty. Without the heat of the oven, chocolate chip cookies would just be cookie dough (and if you eat enough of it, you’ll get sick).
We all go through difficult times in life. People even use the phrase “He’s really turning up the heat” to describe a season when times are a little harder. Just like cookies, sometimes it takes a little heat for us to rise to the occasion. Sometimes it takes a little heat to make the different things in life gel together to make something wonderful.
The Lord doesn’t allow us to go through difficult times because He doesn’t care about us. It’s actually because He does care and He wants us to grow from those experiences and be the best we can be. He knows the benefits we will reap from enduring a little heat. God takes these hardships and works them together for good [Romans 8:28]. He allows them to refine us and purify us for a greater purpose [Malachi 3:3]. When life gets too hot to handle, run to the Father. He is there for you and His plans are for your good [Jeremiah 29:11; John 10:10].
Just remember, some of the sweetest things in life come right out of a hot oven.