Encouraging thoughts from our friend ~ Susan Varghese:
I was in the kitchen slicing up some cucumbers to make a popular Indian salad called raita. It was going to be perfect paired with the biriyani I had cooking in the oven. This time I even pulled out one of my fancy ceramic dishes to bake the biriyani in. That’s something I would have done if I was having guests over for dinner, but today it was just my family of five. Ordinarily if it was just us, I would use a less fancy dish or even a disposable aluminum tray. I don’t know what it was that made me pull out the fancy dish. It might have been the fact that I haven’t used that dish in a while or maybe even the start of the beautiful Spring weather that put me in the mood.
However, one thought came to mind which made me stop slicing the cucumbers for a few seconds. You see, biriyani is a special dish that we usually make for special occasions, like birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. But what was particular about the day I was making this meal was that it was just days following the Friday that my husband was terminated from his job.
As I stood there in the kitchen, thoughts raced through my mind. Was it weird that I was making this celebratory dish on a day when we weren’t exactly celebrating? Should I have stuck to something more simple and ordinary? What would people think if I told them I was making biriyani today? What was there to celebrate?
The Holy Spirit quickly intervened as if to catch me before I got ahead of myself with my thoughts that seemed to be going rampage in my mind. I found myself whispering to myself what He spoke to me in a still small voice. I was celebrating that I was alive and there was breath in my lungs. I was celebrating that our family had enough food to put on the table to feed the five mouths in our family. I was celebrating that we had a roof over our heads. I was celebrating that I had the privilege to not only personally know the God Who created the whole universe, but to call Him my Friend. I was celebrating that as a family we were standing on Christ the Solid Rock, when all other ground was sinking sand. I was celebrating that through it all we had this Hope as an anchor for our souls. As these thoughts from the Holy Spirit flooded my heart, I smiled to myself and picked up the knife again to finish slicing the cucumbers. My God was a good God and we had so much to celebrate!
“We have this hope an and anchor for the soul, firm and secure. … ” (Hebrews 6:19)
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard you hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7)
