Keys to the Kingdom
By Carolyn Tucker
I’ve eaten biscuits with chicken gravy, sausage gravy, quail gravy, bacon gravy, squirrel gravy, and chocolate gravy. My Mom was one of the best gravy makers in Cedar County. Gravy is basically a food group all by itself. Do you know some people won’t even eat certain food without gravy on it? As a new bride, one of the first things I learned was that my husband wouldn’t eat mashed potatoes without gravy. It’s like there was a hidden gravy clause in our marriage vows. I hadn’t the foggiest idea how important gravy was to him when we got married! So, in order to save our marriage, I quickly learned from Betty Crocker how to make gravy.
“Ain’t Gonna Give Up on God” was written by Chaz Bosarge and Phil Johnson; pianist/vocalist Gordon Mote recorded it. From start to finish, this song really butters my biscuit. Here we go: “Been busted and bruised, battered and torn. Walked through the desert weary and worn. I’ve had me some biscuits without any gravy. But in every situation the hand of God fed me. So I ain’t gonna give up, ain’t gonna give up on God.”
I’m gonna stick with God and live for Him all the days of my life. The Lord says, “Don’t be afraid…I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up — the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, your Savior…” (Isaiah 43:1-3 TLB). God will not forget to help you. He’ll give you hidden treasures in the darkest night. And even when you don’t see it, God is working above the storm clouds.
We tend to be in a hurry when we ask for God’s help. But He doesn’t work on the same timetable as we do. The Bible says a thousand years and a day are the same in heaven. I can’t wrap my head around that, so I just accept it as truth and keep stirring the gravy. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8,9 NLT). It’s comforting to know God’s thoughts and ways aren’t like mine. It would be hard to place my faith, hope, and trust in someone as goofy as me.
Our trust and confidence in God builds up over time and experience. Believers are to hang in there and not give up or get tired of waiting on God to act. He is our only true and trusted source. “…For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help. …He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries” (Isaiah 30:18,19 NLT). So we’re blessed when we wait in faith — I like that!
Looks to me like it’s a win-win whether we’re waiting or receiving our full-blown request. “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 KJV). Don’t believe a word the devil whispers when he says you’ll never have gravy on your biscuits again.
The Key: When you’re lookin’ up just to see bottom, God’ll pour gravy on your biscuits.