A Kernel of Truth

i LOVE the smell of coffee while its brewing .... it always makes me think of my mom and dad ... of waking up early in the morning, fully confident that my dad had already retrieved the paper from the edge of the driveway, read it cover to cover, and left it crumpled on the counter ... waiting for my mom to get it and read it and smooth it back into its original rolled up state .... and in the meantime, they both would have a cup of coffee sitting off to the side.  i remember those early days when we owed a tall, sleek stainless percolator ... watching those little 'blurps' of coffee that popped into the clear 'bubble' that protruded through the top of the lid, letting you get a peak into that warming aroma that was filling the house ... they both drank it black .... no cream, no sugar, just an entire pot (at least) EVERY morning that i can ever remember!   i was SO disappointed to learn that coffee didn't taste as good as it smells!  (but i soon learned to remedy that with LOTS of cream and sugar!)

and then there's the smell of popcorn .....  have you ever noticed that no matter WHERE you are in the building, a little bag of kernels can coerce EVERYone from wherEVER they may be .. and suddenly you have a MULTItude of friends .. unLESS, of course, you happen to forget the popcorn in the microwave ... and suddenly you can't find enough friends to open enough windows to let all that billowing smoke out of every nook and cranny of your kitchen!  and why, please tell me, does that disgusting smell manage to linger even LONG after you've taken the garbage out .....  even the crows won't touch those crispy kernels .....  not even sure they decompose in a landfill if truth be known!

and once you've downed that bag of popcorn have you ever found yourself with an annoying remnant tucked ever so tightly between a back tooth and your gum line .....  a teeny, tiny little thin piece of irritation that lingers .. that reminds you of either a great bag of popcorn ... or a burnt sacrifice full of kernels that sounds like pop rocks when you try to crunch them ..... 

there are those kernels of Truth as well, that often get stuck in your heart .. that you turn over and over, trying to dislodge them so that they can right themselves and provide some clarity to those points of pondering and sleepless nights when the pieces just don't seem to fall into place.  for me, these days, my popcorn kernel has lodged in the form of weakness versus sin in my life ..... the 'irritant' has provided much quiet time to think through my current thought process versus what God actually says about things ....  my perception that weakness was supposed to be something i'd outgrow, and yet at 50+ i'm still rather "weak" in so many areas of my life ....

but here's what has Popped from all the percolating:  Weakness is a perfect stage for God to reveal Himself and all that He can do in and through me, desPITE my weakness and excuses.  Weaknesses that are used strictly as carte blanche to give in to selfish pleasures or desires result in sin, but the weakness itself, is NOT a sin.  Case in point:  Chocolate!  i LOVE dark chocolate and am fully aware that it belongs in the "dessert" category rather than the "main course" in my food pyramid.  It IS a weakness, no doubt, as i can most certainly justify the health benefits despite the fact that i know i must keep it all in perspective, and priority!  And then the weaknesses of my personal life - - my insecurities, my overactive mouth, my fears and doubts - - all serve as an amazing platform for me to recognize God at work when He accomplishes things that i clearly could not do on my own!  My weakness becomes the very catalyst for His magnification and exposure to others ...

2 Cor. 12:10  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Succombing to my weaknesses, allowing them to have a foothold that creates a mountain of excuses ... all are clearly tools from Satan to talk me OUT of submitting to God's plan and design .... a Kernel of Truth, much akin to the faith of a mustard seed .... God can, and will, use anyone who's heart is fully devoted to Him ....