It’s a Matter of Perspective!

By Jesse Stigile
Youth Intern
   
It’s Day 7, which means tomorrow is Day 8 and you’ll be welcome to splurge on cheese puffs, meatloaf, McIntosh apples, donuts— whatever it is your taste buds are into.

But it’s definitely still Day 7 and I had rice and bananas for breakfast.

Jesse Stigile with his new favorite breakfast.

 I think I’m starting to like rice and bananas. Well, not the taste; bananas leave that slimy paste in your mouth and rice reminds me of mosquito larvae. But I like the reliability. I like knowing that on Monday I can have rice and bananas, and on Tuesday I can have rice and bananas. And if not that, then chicken. And if not chicken, then beans. And if I run out of food, I can go to Fred Meyer and get some more. And if I run out of money, God will continue faithfully to provide for me. I am reminded at every meal of how blessed I am to have a Father that “gives me this day my daily bread.” Praise God for rice and bananas!

The first time I tried to make rice this week was a fiasco. It was some kind of funky birdseed-rice that my mom likes. I didn’t have a rice cooker so I just threw it in a pot and followed the instructions on the package. At one point it told me to turn down the heat, so I rotated the dial with finesse and considered filling out an application for Chung’s Teriyaki. I guess I didn’t turn it far enough though, because after a while, the kitchen smelled oddly sweet and I discovered my meal was the remnants of a forest fire. The rice was a black, pulsating mess. I threw open the windows to let the smoke out, and turned off the stove. I didn’t have enough time to make any more rice and drive to my classes in time. I was hungry and frustrated and ten seconds from walking to the pantry and breaking the fast on the very first day.

About then I remembered a particular teaching from Jesus:

“I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ The pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” [Mt 6:25, 32-33].

So I stopped worrying and scraped the edible bits into a bowl with some hunks of fruit. I
ate my breakfast and did my devotional by the fireplace. And if I didn’t think too hard, the rice kind of tasted like burnt popcorn, which isn’t really that bad. Not that bad at all. And then I laughed because my life is a circus.

I want to encourage all of you to remember and enjoy God’s provision. These 40 days can certainly be stressful, but they can also be very restful! The food’s all figured out— there isn’t exactly a whole lot to labor over—so let’s continue to seek our heavenly Father. Keep at it PBF, and I’ll see you tomorrow by the bagels.