Taste and See

Yesterday God spoke. I think He's speaking all the time, but sometimes - many times - I don't really listen or hear. Too many other things drown Him out. But, that's another thought for another time. What I want to focus on is one portion of what He said.

I was cooking supper and a verse kept playing over and over in my head. It was Psalm 34:8a, which reads, "O taste and see that the Lord is good." It seemed applicable. I was cooking dinner for a family who sometimes didn't respond enthusiastically to my cooking. "Just taste it," is a common statement at our table, especially directed toward my two-year-old Steven. You see, for most of his little life, my sweet son Steven has balked at dinner. It doesn't matter if we eat dinner at the noon hour or in the evening, he seems to know that it's our sit-down, full, family meal, and he doesn't want to take part in it. It's as if he just assumes that he's not going to like it. We've been training him and working with him in that area, and some days are better than others. At first we simply wanted him to sit at the table with us. He was only a toddler and we felt that our first order of business was to simply encourage him to join the family, even if just for a few minutes. As he approached two, we began asking him to just taste one bite of the food - just one little morsel! Now he usually will willingly take that one bite, and sometimes eat even more, although he's back to fighting it more these days.

So, last night as I cooked dinner I knew that Steven would probably fight. It wasn't a bad dinner. In fact, I knew that if Steven would taste it, he'd enjoy it thoroughly. Taste and see...
More thoughts began tumbling through my mind, but I wanted to make sure that the extension of what I was thinking was actually supported by the whole passage. So, this morning I looked it up. Here's what I found.

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 9 O fear the LORD, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

Psalms 34:8-14 (NASB)

You see, tasting is just the beginning. Tasting gives you a hint of what you're missing. About a year ago, I introduced Doug to one of my favorite foods - halloumi cheese. Halloumi is made on the Island of Cyprus. In fact, if it is made anywhere else in the world, it's not truly halloumi! The only genuine halloumi must be imported from Cyprus. The last time my parents were travelling back to the US, I had them bring us some halloumi, and I shared it with Doug. Now he, too, has tasted. Now both of us crave it! When my little sister asked what Christmas present she could bring our family from Jordan, there was no question. Bring halloumi! Doug had tasted. Now it's a part of his very sense of delicious. There are certain things that just aren't the same without it.

Last night, Steven tasted. He tasted the rice and devoured it. He didn't want to try his own chicken, but he began asking for my food (Mommy's is always better!), and he was willing to try my chicken. He devoured it. I snuck a couple of sweet & sour green beans in, and he didn't object. He tasted, and saw that it was good. Then he pursued it with a passion.

Is it always like that? No, sometimes he fights that one taste so much that even if he does like it, he's too exhausted and upset to truly see that it is good. One night he finally took his bite and I picked him up, thanked him, and took him to the bathtub. We started talking about his bite, and through his tears he confessed, "It was yummy! I liked it!" But he wasn't able to enjoy any more. He was way too upset.

Some days we dive in to taste the Lord and see that He is good. When we do, we go so much deeper into Him and what He has to offer us. We find that true refuge in Him. We see that we do not want. We find the peace that He has to offer. We find that He helps protect our hearts, our lips, our actions from going contrary to His ways. We find so much, simply by tasting to see that He is good!

Other days we fight. We know we need to focus time on Him, but there is so much else crowding around us. We know we need to calm down and not be angry with our spouse, our children, our neighbors, our church family, our enemies, our friends, our loved ones, our thorns. But, it's so hard to set that aside, even in our prayers. We know we need to read the Bible, but there's this book or this blog or this TV show. We know we need to pray, but there's this work, this demand, this obligation. So, we fight. We struggle. We might sit down for the barest taste and realize that it truly is good, but we still allow those emotions to crowd out the goodness of the Lord. We taste, but we don't truly take refuge. We don't devour.

There is so much the Lord has for us. At my church, we're seeing just the tiniest glimpse of it. We're praying for people and seeing them healed. A mother who in a very small amount of time went from being diagnosed with cancer to being cancer free. A father who had major heart problems but then they were gone. A church member who hurt her foot and was expected to have to have surgery and rehab but didn't need either one. On and on we see healings. But, often we stop there. There's so much more!

There's a deeper spring to taste. There's an incredible level of depth. There's a level that gives us a passion to gather together as believers. There's a level that brings us faith like we've never experienced before. There's a level where we truly experience that "for those who fear Him there is no want." There is a level where we see people who would never go beyond pew-sitters become active evangelists because of their excitement for the things of the Lord. There is a level where we go beyond tasting and we go to the point of truly taking refuge. There is a point where once we have tasted, we want nothing more than to go deeper, to eat more, to devour the Lord and His truths.

Will you go with me to that place? Will you taste with me? Will you take refuge with me? Will you go with me to cast aside the ways of this world and discover the immense pleasure found in tasting and seeing that our amazing Lord is good?