We Never Had It So Good

“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” (Pr 27:7 AV)

Not everything about this mandated isolation is bad.  We are learning a very important truth.  There are things of which we were greatly blessed, yet because they were always there, we never knew just how good they were.  Things like unfettered freedom to get in one’s car and go anywhere one wished to go.  Now, with so many establishments closed, where do we go?  Things like our favorite sit-down restaurant.  The one we go to once a week.  Ordering often the same selection, we grew accustomed to it.  We now realize just how tasty that meal would be if we could just get to it and they were open.  We miss our children and grandchildren.  Video chatting, as much of a blessing as it is, is simply not the same.  When we have enough, or too much of a good thing, we often take it for granted.  We become picky.  We become choosey.  Take it all away, and whatever is available is the best one ever had.

Some of the best meals I have ever had were very basic meals cooked over a campfire.  Growing up with camping a normal activity, we learned how to prepare and cook meals the primitive way.  There isn’t a lot one can create over an open flame.  It would be a hoot to see the cast and contestants of Chopped compete for a week while camping in the wilderness with absolutely no modern amenities.  No refrigeration.  Just a cooler with bags of ice.  No blender.  No stovetop.  No oven.  No pantry.  No flash freezer, fryer, or puree machine.  It would be great.  I can just imagine those pretentious judges try to critique a campfire meal.  As a Scout Master, my father required us to be creative in our menus.  Most would serve a week’s fare of nothing but cereal for the morning, PB&J sandwiches for lunch, and either hot dogs or hamburgers for the evening meal.  He required us to be a bit more imaginative and not take the easy way out.  So, my buddy Scott and I made Salisbury steaks with fried mushrooms and onions, potato wedges, and fresh biscuits in a Dutch oven.  It never tasted so good.  No, that meal could not compare to a similar one cooked in a commercial kitchen by a professional chef, but to us at the time, it may as well have been.  When you have been camping in the wilderness, using a tree as your latrine and taking a bath in a mudhole, anything coming off that campfire was a five-star meal.

Which brings me to our specific application for today.  I have said several times to our church folk that if anything, the absence of fellowship has taught us the value of that fellowship.  I miss my flock.  Something fierce.  I miss the smiling faces and warm pews.  I miss the handshakes.  I miss the special music.  I miss the testimonies.  I especially miss each and every individual who graces Southside Baptist with their presence.  I miss the prayer requests.  I miss the prayer meetings wherein we pair off and pray with one another.  I miss the rustling of pages as multiple Bibles sit on laps and a new passage is announced.  I miss the enthusiasm of our offerings.  I miss the children running around the building playing tag or some other adventure.  I miss the times our more experienced saints share their wisdom, observations, or simple joys of life.  I miss the good-natured bantering between the pulpiteer and someone who is serving.  I miss the laughter.  I miss the sorrow.  I miss the ability to observe the LORD’s Supper and baptism by immersion.  Two ordinances that we are commanded to observe.  I miss the ‘amens’.  And I miss the altar calls.  Perhaps that is what I miss most of all.  I miss seeing the Spirit move among God’s people and their humble response to that work.  I miss seeing God have His way in the hearts and lives of the saints.  Perhaps what we have learned that attending church is not a luxury.  Rather, it is a necessity.  We can see why Paul tells us not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together because the day of the LORD draws nigh.  The close we get to the LORD’s return, the greater will be the need to meet.  In short, I miss each and every one of my flock and it aches my heart that we are apart.  I am praying for a quicker resolution than our governmental leadership seems to want to provide.  I’ve had a lot of the honeycomb, and am willing to have whatever sweetness our God deems my necessary food.