Day 19: Banana Blessings

I've been thinking through some hard things in my life the past couple Sundays. Sometimes I've been angry about it. Sometimes frustrated or confused. Sometimes bitter. I've just had a lot of negative emotions.

But the banana is coming.

Let me explain.

This morning I had another bowl of oatmeal (as I do almost every morning now). This isn't the good stuff in those pretty packages with the different sweetened flavorings. It's just plain oats and water. I eat it out of necessity for the nourishment--definitely not for the taste or texture.

Today, however, I got to eat half a banana with my oatmeal. I didn't mix it in. I saved the banana until after I finished the oatmeal--to leave the sweet taste in my mouth. And it was good.

Knowing the good taste of the banana was coming made the oatmeal more bearable.

This morning in church I thought about this. (Yes, I was over-analyzing my breakfast, but the thought resonated with me.) The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8 (my favorite chapter of the Bible):

"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later... We wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us."

I love that.

Jesus lived, died, and lives again for us (in spite of us) because he loves us. I have so much sin in me. But one day, Jesus will redeem all my negative emotions and bitterness and confusion into full glory with him.

There is a banana coming at the end of this oatmeal.