Out of all the privileges we are entitled to in the family of God, conversing with the living LORD anytime and anywhere, and about anything has to be the richest gift of all. I have listened to people expound on topics regarding communication to God. I have heard some say that God really is not concerned with what you wear, what you eat, and the trivial activities of one's day. I have to disagree. I really believe God is interested in every facet of our lives. I believe He notices what we wear, and all we are involved in, every single second of our day. He desires all of us, not just certain aspects of us. When one comes to God with those things that would seem to be insignificant, it is really a statement of the depth of the relationship between the two. I am sure I would not ask just anyone for their opinion regarding my clothing attire, or my activities of my given day. I would however ask my husband. It signifies my relationship with him. Our Heavenly Father is a very personal and loving Father. He takes great delight in our conversing with Him about everything. I can remember a time when I was serving in the kitchen at YWAM Nashville. It was Wednesday morning, pancake breakfast. I had arrived early enough and was diligently about my task. I was to set up for breakfast and prepare approximately ninety pancakes. I have been a very time oriented individual for many years, so I had allowed plenty of time for my task. I ran into a problem however. The big gas stove griddle had been scrubbed vigorously the previous evening. Every pancake I tried to flip was tearing all to pieces. I learned a valuable lesson in the culinary arts department that morning. A shiny griddle and pancake production fight rigidly against one another, even if you have greased the griddle generously! My time was running out. There would soon be a dining room full of hungry missionaries ready for those hot pancakes. I cried out to the LORD. "HELP!" He spoke to the still quiet part of my heart. He said to me, "I AM the LORD of the pancakes." I was calmed and at peace at that moment, and began to flip pancakes like an Emeril Lagasse. Needless to say, breakfast was on time with plenty, beautifully fashioned hot pancakes and all the trimmings. God cares about every detail of our lives. For us to think He is not concerned about some things in our life is a reproach to Him. It is a misconception of His character. The Psalmist declared in Psalm 119:2 "Blessed are those who seek Him with the whole heart." I believe that means everything that we consist of, everything that we are involved in, every bit of us. No separation between what we would deem as the secular and the sacred. We must have Church all the time, one long continuous conversation with Him. Every component of our lives is to be sacred. The book, "The Practice of the Presence of God" which is now in it's fifteenth printing, is about a seventeenth century French Monk who learned to practice the presence of God at all times. It is a collection of documented conversations and letters that reveal the heart of this humble man. Brother Lawrence wrote, "The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament. At any moment and in any circumstance, the soul that seeks God may find Him, and practice the presence of God." Brother Lawrence was able to turn even the most commonplace and menial task into a living hymn to the glory of God. F. B. Meyer used this illustration in a sermon he preached in Keswick, England, in 1904. It describes his moment of surrender to Christ: "I remember so well when He came to my heart and challenged me as to the keys of the fortress. Before I gave them to Him, I put one small key in my pocket. Have not you done that, and handed to Him the bunch minus the key? He gave it back, and said He could not be King at all if He could not be King of everything. I put my hand in my pocket where I had hidden it, and said, I cannot give it, but you may take it, and He took that tiny key". Sometimes, those things we hold on to are not even big things, but we intellectualize them away as unimportant to the Creator and the Sustainer of the Universe, because we simply do not know the character of God. For us to converse with Him and invite Him into our day in day out ordinary activities is a great delight to Him. I believe God smiled on that Wednesday morning when I said to Him, HELP! And He replied to me, "I Am the LORD of the pancakes." You see, the God I'm in relationship with loves to flip pancakes with me. He desires to be "I AM" regarding anything and everything in our lives.
Debbie Fondren
