Part One: Don’t Blow Up the Chicken

“Do not quench the Spirit.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19

The other night my wife was working late and asked me to make supper for us.

No problem! I love to cook! I went to our local market intending to buy a cooked rotisserie chicken. I usually pick it clean and toss it in a pan with some fresh onions, garlic, olive oil, and seasonings. I planned to make some rice pilaf and sauteed yellow squash as sides.

When I got to the rotisserie area, the young kid was cleaning the oven out and there were no chickens available under the warming lights. Bummer!

Wandering toward the meat counter, I pondered “Plan B”. At the raw chicken section there were whole chickens lined up on ice behind the glass. They were on sale! My mind started planning…

I’ll just bake a chicken! I can get some garlic, carrots, and potatoes and bake my wife a beautiful chicken dinner!

I bought everything and drove home, eager to get started. The chicken got rinsed, spatchcocked, lightly buttered, and seasoned. It was set in the glass baking dish and surrounded by carrots and potatoes.

Around this time my wife walked in, wholly pleased with “Plan B” and happy that I was handling dinner. I was the hero, all was well.

Into the oven it went on 400 degrees with some water in the dish and covered with tin foil. Within 20 minutes the kitchen was smelling wonderful. Happy smells. Wholesome smells. Home smells.

And then everything changed in the kitchen and the house…it wasn’t the devil, the Lord, or a random accident.

I did something really foolish. I should have thought before I acted and left well enough alone. How many times have I done that in my Christian walk?

It’s okay to make mistakes, but the Lord wants to use them to teach us spiritual applications for life. I learned a good one this weekend with a chicken in the oven.

Stay tuned tomorrow…have a blessed day!