Wouldn't you agree there is nothing better than freshly baked bread? Anytime I enjoy a piece of homemade bread, I am brought back to my childhood. My mother would carve out an entire day to bake bread. In addition to feeding her family of 10, my mom often made extra loaves of bread to bring to the neighbors.
I have fond memories of my mom placing the bread bowl on a kitchen stool instead of the counter so she could knead the dough at a height that was easier for her short stature. My sisters and I would be playing somewhere in the house when we would hear her yell, “I need more flour!” The daughter closest to the kitchen would run to her and add more flour to her mixing bowl. After a few hours of letting the dough rise, we all gathered in the kitchen and formed loaves of bread or buns. By the time we finished, the kitchen was covered in flour and freshly baked bread on every possible surface!
I have recently re-entered a bread-baking era. I have tried various recipes from fancy artisan breads to pizza dough. I have learned that yeast is a humbling ingredient to work with. Depending on the humidity or temperature of my kitchen, the yeast may react completely differently than I was anticipating. I find myself impatiently waiting for the dough to rise. There is nothing for me to do during this process but wait.
Jesus said in Matthew 13:33, “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch was leavened.”
Bread-making is similar to living authentically with Christ, the Bread of Life. We present Him with the recipe card when we vocalize our desires or prayer intentions. He wants us to include all of the ‘ingredients’ by being vulnerable about what is weighing on our hearts. We then do the hard work of mixing the dough when we converse with Him during prayer. It takes perseverance and intentionality! Finally, we wait for the dough to rise by waiting for the Lord to act. The Lord, in His perfect timing, will answer our prayers. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to speed up the process or manipulate how He will respond.
Bread-making and our relationship with the Lord take time, care, and patience. If we throw the bread in the oven before the yeast has done its work the resulting bread will be dense, hard, and thin instead of light and fluffy. Similarly, if we jump into decision-making or action before discerning it with the Lord we might experience roadblocks or hardships instead of peace. The Bread of Life has a plan for how the bread of our life will turn out. We just have to sit back and let the dough rise!
Until next time, your sister in Christ,
Abby