Ditch the Recipe and Trust Your Gut

Smells of Cuban kitchen's past filled the kitchen. Cumin and garlic wafted through the air escaping the lid of the closed crockpot. The black beans were cooked to perfection. Can I just say they turned out amazing. As we sat down to dinner everyone commented on how good the beans were, it dawned me that I didn’t use a recipe.

I have a black bean recipe in a favorite Cuban cookbook, but for whatever reason, on Monday I went by memory and intuition and it paid off.

It made me think about how careful I am sometimes to follow rules, do things step-by-step and refer to instructions even when I know how to do something. At what point do we just trust that we know?

It can happen in our spiritual life too. I’ve read the scripture, have hidden it in my heart, but I check one more time just in case. I ask just one more person to make sure I understand. Those things are not bad, do not misunderstand me, wise counsel is imperative, but when they interfere with our faith there is a problem. We can become religious or ritualistic in our attempt to get it right apart from the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes tried and true instructions can interfere

with being led by the Spirit of God.

Trust what He has deposited in you.

Trust what He has spoken to your heart.

Trust what you have invested in relationship with Him.

Trust the Holy Spirit to give you what you need when you need it.

I knew the black bean recipe, I didn’t need to look it up. I could trust my gut.

The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Luke 6:45

When He pours it in, it will pour out, I don't have to muster it up.

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:31-33

Traditions can be amazing, but we have to be careful that we are

following Him and not tradition for tradition's sake.

When we seek Him and His righteousness, we can trust what He is saying to us. Go ahead and make that apple pie or macaroni and cheese without checking the recipe and you just might be surprised with the results. After all, when we do our part the results are up to Him.