Hot on the Outside (almost cooked inside)

Yesterday I went on a drive, looking for a good meal. Situated not far from our place is a small mountain town with a popular diner, where a vivacious bubbly young lady serves tables.  A very likeable lass, who does a fine job of entertaining the crowd assembled in their dining room.  She works hard and contributes to the ambiance well.  The place is very busy.  A lot of repeat clientele and regulars.

I ordered a stack of pancakes.  A huge stack!  Obviously homemade.  The butter was real butter.  The syrup was hot. All was well. A refill of coffee.  I was set to go.  I spread the butter.  Poured the syrup.  The cakes were quite hard-surfaced.  A little too hard?  Perhaps. I cut through them.  They were hot and fresh.  Too fresh.  The insides were not cooked.  I tried the other two.  Same problem. I was very disappointed. My friendly waitress walked by several times.  She was so busy keeping the crowd entertained, she didn’t notice my still almost-filled plate slid forward on the table, and that I was not eating. Finally, I decided all I could do was get up and pay my bill.  She took my payment gladly.  I added a courtesy tip.  She was still unaware of my untouched pancakes.  

So, I took a deep breath.  “Young lady, if you see the cook, let him know that the pancakes were hot.  And almost cooked inside.” 

She replied, “Oh! I’m sorry!”  That’s it! That’s all.  Maybe I’ll try their pancakes again.  Maybe I’ll get bacon and eggs.  Maybe I’ll try a place down the road.

Sometimes in life we too are hot on the outside and almost cooked inside.  Sometimes we are so busy impressing the multitudes, we forget the one in need. I write the above this morning because the lesson speaks loud to me.  I’m troubled with the yo-yo of life. The apostle Peter was a little this way too.  He walked on water. With Jesus. Took his eyes off the Saviour.  Cried “Master, I perish!”

Just today, God, I pray that I might understand from whence cometh my help.

Psalm 121:1&2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”