Spice in Your Life

Bible Reading: Romans 8:28-32

Alyssa piled her taco shell with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and her father’s special taco sauce. “This is great, Dad!” she exclaimed between bites. “You should be on one of those master chef shows on TV.”

Dad laughed. “I’m glad you like it, Alyssa, but I’m no master chef.”

Alyssa looked at her taco. “There’s something in your sauce that makes it special and different. Can you tell me what it is—or is it a secret recipe?”

Dad laughed again. “It’s no secret. I think cumin gives Mexican-style foods their unique flavor, so I double the amount of ground cumin in my sauce recipe. I also add a little sweet red pepper. I can show you how to make the sauce the next time we need some.”

A few days later, Alyssa noticed the bottle of ground cumin on the spice rack in the cupboard. She opened it, and the smell reminded her of her dad’s delicious tacos. Mmmm, she thought. That smells so good! She shook a little of the powder into her hand and licked it. “Oh, yuck!” she said, nearly choking. She ran to the sink, spitting and sputtering, and rinsed her mouth with water.

Alyssa found her dad and told him what happened. “Why does that spice taste so bad? It sure made the taco sauce good.”

“Good taco sauce is more than just one ingredient,” said Dad. “A master chef, or even an ordinary one like me, blends the right ingredients in the right amounts so that it makes something that tastes good.” He smiled. “You know, Alyssa, life is a little like taco sauce.”

“Like taco sauce!” exclaimed Alyssa. “How is it like that?”

“We often wish our lives could be easy and fun with none of the hard stuff,” Dad explained. “But God allows difficult things into our lives so we can grow in our relationship with Jesus and be more like Him. We usually just see difficulties as bad things—like how you’d think cumin tasted bad if you hadn’t first tasted it in my taco sauce. But God doesn’t see those difficulties the same way we do. He uses them to flavor our lives with the love and grace of Jesus.”

Alyssa smiled. “Just like a master chef.”

-Catherine Runyon

How About You?

Did you know God is a master chef? He has a recipe—a plan—for your life. There are many kinds of spices—hot, sweet, bitter, and fragrant—that lend their special touch to foods. Today’s Bible passage and Key Verse remind us that God allows us to go through many kinds of experiences to make our lives beautiful. He uses the difficulties we face to help us learn to trust Jesus and grow to be more like Him. Trust Him to be with you in hard times and to use those experiences for good.

Today’s Key Verse:
Romans 8:28 We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (NIV)

Today’s Key Thought:

God has a purpose for everything