Message in a meatball!

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Sometimes I find that God speaks to my heart in rather unusual ways. Now, just so you don’t get the wrong idea, I’ve never heard the audible voice of God. Personally, I would love that. But then again, since I’m much more of a visual learner, I think He speaks to me in ways that send me a message in the form of a word picture…in a way that I hear best. Take the other day, for instance. I got a message…delivered in a meatball!

Now, maybe you just envisioned me breaking open the meatball, and there was a paper inside with a message written on it…kind of like a fortune cookie! But it wasn’t anything like that. It happened at one of the bible studies I teach. We usually start out the evening with some food, which some of the girls bring…and on this particular night, one of the girls told me she wanted to bring meatballs. Well, she brought her meatballs, and they didn’t look like anything special. On the outside, they looked pretty uninteresting…plain…like they’d taste just ho-hum…so I almost decided to skip the meatballs!

But I took one anyway, and I tried a bite. I was surprised! Because it may have looked plain on the outside, but I discovered that whatever was on the inside added up to one awesome tasting meatball! And I wasn’t the only one who thought that! Later, when we voted for the “fab food of the night,” she won…or should I say, the meatballs won! And the message that God painted for me? That there are so many people we miss enjoying… because on the outside, we think they seem uninteresting…plain…like they’d be just ho-hum to know. But if we’ll take the time to find out what’s in their heart, we may just be surprised to discover that this person is one awesome person! It’s not that I didn’t already know that, but sometimes we need reminders. So I’m really glad I got to eat one of those awesome meatballs….but I’m even more glad for the message I found on the inside of that meatball!

I Samuel 16:7 NLT ~ …The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

More Devotions by Renee Burt

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt