Seeking Peach Cobbler

It turns out that there is no sexy way to take a picture of peach cobbler.

I bet those aren't words you expected to read today, but it's the truth, at least for this novice photographer. I love peach cobbler, but I almost never eat it.  The reasons abound, the least of which are the dessert's talents as a model.

My husband doesn't like peaches, and I don't really care for them.  Except in cobbler. It's hard to make a cobbler for one, so I don't make it at home.  I don't know of any restaurants that sell it near my home. Last month a local restaurant put up signs advertising "Peach Season." I thought for sure that this would be it; if only seasonally, I'd be able to get peach cobbler lovingly made by a trained professional.  They only offered peach pie.  How unfortunate.  Cobbler beats pie any day.

About two years ago my friend and I volunteered at an event hosted by a semi-local mega church.  We did some work for them, and they allowed us to attend their conference for free. It was a great trade off.  Since this church was about an hour from our homes, we decided to have dinner together on the last night before we left. We had a fine meal, but the whole time I couldn't stop thinking about two words that I had seen written on their menu: Peach Cobbler.  I decided to buy one to go.  That night, I sent my friend one of the most disappointing texts I have ever sent: This isn't cobbler. It a crisp.

There's nothing wrong with a crisp, or even a crumble, but it wasn't what I was looking for. I was seeking something very specific, and nothing else would satisfy me.  Similarly, the Bible is filled with instruction to seek God, to look for Him with the same passionate effort I seek peach cobbler:

• But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
• If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
• Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:12-13)
• But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
• God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:27)

I have tasted peach cobbler in the past, so I desire it when I am away from it too long.  It is the same with God.  But what about those who have never tasted?  Romans 10:14 asks the same question this way, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?" We, who have tasted, are called to share with those who have not. That's what I'm doing here. I hope you find your own way.

*If you, like most, are confused by the difference between a cobbler, a crisp, and a crumble, HERE is a great explanation.

My 100

The number 100 appears frequently in the Bible. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born to him (Genesis 21). The courtyard of the temple was 100 cubits on the north/south side (Exodus 17). The Israelite army would be able to fight 100 men with only five if obedient to God (Leviticus 26). The penalty for slandering a woman after marrying her was 100 shekels and the inability to divorce her... #awkward (Deuteronomy 22). Jacob bought a burial property for 100 shekels, and Joseph was eventually buried there (Joshua 24). Saul requested a dowry of 100 foreskins from David, and was paid two hundred... #superawkward (1 Samuel). Obadiah hid 100 of God's prophets in caves to protect them (1 Kings 18). The unnamed man's offering feeds 100 people (2 Kings 4). There were 100 gold sprinkling bowls in the temple (2 Chronicles 4).

Jesus also used the number in His parables. Jesus says the Word is a like a seed that will produce a crop 100, sixty, or thirty fold (Mark 4). Jesus says that He, like a man who owns 100 sheep, would leave ninety-nine to fine one that is lost (Luke 15). Jesus compares human forgiveness to a servant whose master forgave his debt of ten thousand bags of gold but would not forgive his co-worker who owed him 100 silver coins (Matthew 18).

There's another 100 that doesn't get the same glory some of these other verses get. It's easy for me to read about Abraham receiving his blessing at 100 or even laugh about David's dowry payment, and I love to read Jesus' parables as both spiritual wisdom and well crafted literature. However, I don't often turn to Revelation when I open the Bible.

I took a New Testament class my second semester in college. As we approached Revelation, Professor Bob Smith told us that we would be reading the book in its entirety during class.  Instead of sitting at the desks of our basement level class, we would be lounging in the cafeteria to read it one sitting.  The other lectures all blur together; that one stands out.

In chapter sixteen, the seven bowls of God's wrath are poured out on earth. Terrible things happen, but the people refuse to repent and glorify God. It reminds me of the Egyptian plagues on steroids. If I'm being honest, I really struggle with this passage. I'm pretty stubborn, and I'm not sure that festering sores would make me worship God. I guess that's the problem: I don't allow difficulties to draw me to God the way they should.

The seven bowls are poured out, the kings meet together at Armageddon (after the sixth bowl, to be accurate), and a voice comes from the temple saying "It is done!" Don't get this confused with Christ's proclamation on the cross "It is finished!" This voice in Revelation is more like how we might say "well, that happened." Then come the lightning, thunder, an earthquake, and (are you ready for it?) 100 pound hailstones. Not a 100 pound hailstone - hailstones, plural. Not only did the people refuse to bless God because of these hailstones, they actually caused the people to curse Him.

I don't know if any of the difficult things going on in our lives are mini-bowls of wrath (shot glasses of wrath?). I don't know why things happen or why God operates the way He does. However, I know that every day is an opportunity to repent, to glorify God, and to seek His will in my life.

So on this, my 100th blog post, let me say: Don't wait for 100 pound hailstones.