Solomon’s Recipe

I was a senior in High School and had seven or eight schools that I considered to attend in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering. One of them, Bucknell University, I considered because it was the school where my chemistry teacher had earned his chemistry degree. As with all the other schools I seriously considered, I would be alone at Bucknell, as none of my friends from school or church would be there with me.

I applied to my list of choices and waited for the hoped for acceptance letters. I gained acceptance into six schools, but based on a visit to Bucknell one weekend and the counsel of my mentor and uncle, I decided to attend Bucknell University in the small college town of Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

When the journey to school was a few days away, I attended a midweek service at our church. The sermon was based on a text from Old Testament scripture, Solomon’s Proverbs. I had always been impressed with Solomon primarily because of his encounter with God as a teenager. The text for the service was Proverbs 4: 5-6. I do not honestly recall how it may have impressed me at the moment I heard it or how the sermon based on it moved me. The future revealed that it somehow got into me. It became a lifelong touchstone that has been a gold mine of wisdom and strength throughout my life to this day.

The text as used in the sermon was from the old King James Version as follows:

Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV) 5- Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6- In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

I found this text to be a recipe. A recipe has two components: Ingredients and Instructions. The ingredients define what elements make up the recipe, while the instructions define the sequence and timing of combining them that is critical to achieving a successful end.

With this analogy in mind, I considered analyzing the text.  I expanded the words of the text by adding the words found in the Message Bible as follows:

Proverbs 3:5 (MSG) 5-6 Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for GOD’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.

I found four basic Ingredients:
1. Trust in the Lord my God
2. Don’t insist on understanding
3. Acknowledge God in everything without reservation
4. God will guide you

I then dug into each of them to understand the Instructions as follows:

• Trusting in God I found to be the key to the success of moving forward with this life recipe. This ingredient is critical before the rest can be added. Looking at the many turning points in my life, I was able to see how the hand of God influenced the experiences I had in life. This developed a strong sense of trust in God. Whenever I faced circumstances that seemed beyond me, I trusted God and His will and plan for me. I found that God was worthy of my trust, completely and “from the bottom of my heart.”
• Leaning, relying and insisting on my own understanding I found to be futile. Too much was hidden from me. I could not make wise decisions based on such limited understanding. This was not always easy to do. We tend to think we know it all. However, I came to believe that this ingredient was crucial and I was equipped to embrace it when I trusted in God. Then and only then could I move forward without complete understanding. I also came to realize that eventually, understanding came at the most beneficial moment, even though it was many years later.
• Acknowledging God and His influence and actions in my life presented some difficulty when I faced some very difficult times. When life seemed to be going in directions that caused fear and apprehension I often wondered how God was involved. But I found that when the previous ingredient was engaged, I could acknowledge God in all things. Experience bore out the reality of God’s hand in everything. I was often reminded how Joseph came to see the evil his brothers had done to him when he said to them, what you meant for evil God made into good.
• The directing of my path by God was His way of fulfilling His hope in me. It took a specific listening to Him as He “spoke” in the form of feelings, words and experiences. In most of these, his “speech” was a whisper and not thunder, lightning, fire or earthquake. Here I learned yet another lesson from Solomon. When Solomon was anointed king, he was but a teenager. God asked Him what He should give him. He asked for “a heart with skill to listen, a discerning heart to be a king of righteousness”.

TURNING POINT

The turning point in this experience occurred in the span of a few minutes. A text from the Bible read in a church service. There was no immediate “ah-ha” inspiration. But, as time marched on, the value in the words found ever deeper meaning for me. As the model of a recipe eventually became evident, its value increased even more. I anticipate that further revelations from these simple words will be revealed in experiences yet to come.

COMMENTS

As you read this turning point experience, I hope that you found some personal connection wherein the truth of this scripture also influenced your life. I hope you will share them here so others can be blessed by your experience.

COPYRIGHT © 2014 ALLAN E. MUSTERER