Lessons learnt from making Beans Cake

By: Jesus Errand Daughter Rev Honour Adewole

During the COVID-19 pandemic, whilst on lockdown, I discovered my creative and innovative juices were flowing seamlessly. God is Good! I guess I just need some time out to rejuvenate, relax and reintegrate my culinary skills in the heart of every home: kitchen.

I decided to make some beans cake using broken white beans bought from an African store. I soaked the beans overnight and the plan was to make it early the following day.
Guess what! Something came up and I didn’t get to it till night time. By then, it was too late to use the blender as I didnt want to wake up my sleeping angels (family members). So I decided to drain the water and determine to make it first thing the following morning.

Lesson Number One: Be thankful for Enablers (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

I blended the beans after adding a bit of water and thank God for a good blender. It did the job without bailing out on me by not working. The scriptural verse above says, in all things give thanks to God, when last did you thank God for things that God blessed you with as an enabler in your life and home?

When last did you appreciate the people that God placed in your life to facilitate your progress in life? Those whom at the press of a button you call and they attend to your needs.Success is enabled by a network of people.

Sometimes we take people for granted till we no longer have access to them, then we value their input which we had taken for granted! Life is short. Call them today and be a blessing to them. Appreciate your enablers today.

Lesson Number Two – God will turn it around. Jeremiah 18:4

As I poured the blended beans in the mixing bowl, I realized that the texture was too runny. It has been soaked too much in water that it has lost its expected texture.

The foundation is faulty. It is no longer suitable for what I intended it for. It’s not hopeless; it could still be useful. It was destined for something else though, as originally planned.

Circumstances wants to change its destiny. The scriptures above says “Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else.”

For someone reading this article, you may have been marked as imperfect, people may have given up on you thinking it’s over for you, you may have been called useless and of no good, circumstances may have made you think you would not amount to any good, but, don’t give up!

It’s not over for you! You have life in you so there is hope! You will make it! You will fulfill destiny! It is not over! You may lost the battle but you will win the war. God will raise helpers for you and your life will become tantalising with His grace and favour and your fame will spread all over the world in Jesus name, amen!

Make this declaration: “I will arise and shine! I will make it! Failure is not in my DNA!”

Lesson Number Three- Do Not Compromise Your Purpose – Ecclesiastes 3:1

I was tempted to make the blended mixture into something else but the scripture above made me resolve to keep it as originally planned. It has a purpose. I could make it into something else and it would still be great.

But, that is not what it was destined for. That’s not the purpose for the creation. What is your purpose in life? What has God destined for you?

You are uniquely created by God to fulfill His divine assignment on earth. No one can do what you are destined to do. People may try to imitate you but no one can reproduce an original.

They could duplicate things but they cannot clone your divine uniqueness. Pray that the plans of the devil to turn your substance to shadow is completely cancelled in Jesus name, amen!

Pray that you will not sell your birthright for a morsel of meal. Pray that challenges of life will not shatter your dreams, eradicate your goals nor turn your source of joy to sorrows in Jesus name, amen!

Lessons Number Four – Divine Help is Essential-John 9:6-7

I took time to check my inventory in the kitchen to see what could be added to rescue the blended beans mixture to so that it could fulfill what it has been destined for. Holy Spirit directed me to add blended cray fish. As I mixed it in my beans mixture, it gave it substance by thickening the mixture.

In the above Scripture, “Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud, then He told him, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came back seeing.” You need your inner eyes opened to see with clarity the solution to the problems you are confronted with!

Success is a collection of network of people.You cannot succeed by keeping yourself in silo! You need help, we all do! You need godly counsellors.You need divine guidance. You need vision propellers. You need to develop transferable skills to improve your situation in life.

Prayer: Ask God to reveal to you the solution to the problems you are facing. Ask Him to make a way for you and turn things around for you.

Lesson Number Five – Focus On Running Your Own Race- Eccelesiates 9:11

I heated up the oil and got out a wooden to scoop the mixture in the frying pan. I used the same spoon, with the same quantity in the same oil.

As I observed, some started turning brown quicker than the others. Right in my eyes, the shapes when placed in the oil changed from how it was in the spoon before making contact with the oil. WoW! Isn’t that just like our lives as Christians?

How do we react under the anointing? Do we maintain our forms or are we changed under the power of the oil, the anointing? Do we react so quickly and think we have arrived whilst we think others who do not show any visible changes are not impacted? Do we judge by sight only or as led by God having spent time being saturated in His anointing and submissive to His instructions?

The above scripture states “I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” WORD!

Make a commitment today to lead your life as destined by God. Don’t run someone’s race! Don’t focus on others; focus on God. Maintain your lane! Don’t be distracted. Fulfill your ministry. Stay in your calling. Be willing to be moulded and flexible in His hands so you could be a vessel unto honour in His hands.

Lesson Number Six – Be Teachable – Isaiah 29:16

As I watched the side of the beans cake turning brown in the heated oil, I turned it over so the other side could also be well done. The process of making it fit for eating entails spending time in the hot oil and being turned over and over till its edible.

Maybe God is turning you around in the heat of life whilst you are saturated in His anointing. Maybe He is ensuring you are done well in the heat of the anointing whilst He is ensuring the temperature is just right for your assignment. That’s God’s person centred strategy. HE made you with uniqueness and His calling on your life entails personal grooming. Learn to be still till He is done so you can reflect His attractive glory. Exodus 34:29 states “And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord.” Check out the word, “horned” – that is not a mean feat!

His eyes are on you. Like the verse above in Isaiah, “You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”?. You cannot question God’s methodology. You just have to trust Him. HE knows best.

Half baked Christian walk is not appealing to God. You have to be well baked by being submissive to God. It might be a process that is too hot for your flesh to handle but the pruning process will make you fit to serve- John 15:1-3.

Maybe you are reading this right now and thinking you are done with the process.
You might be fed up because you can’t see the light for the tunnel.

It seems as if God has abandoned you in the heat of life. It seems life is too hot for you to handle, the Christian race seems too hard, your friends are telling you to quit and you’re tempted to listen to them.

Please don’t give up. The end will justify the means. It is not over, friend. Stay the course and you will have the last laugh.

Declare: Joy comes to me. I choose to submit myself to God today. I surrender all to you, my Lord and Saviour.

Lesson Number Seven – Be Willing To Serve At Different Settings – 1 Corinthians 12

After the beans cakes has been well done, I placed them in a plate ready to be served. My family then selected the ones they want and decided what to eat their selected beans cakes with.

Some had theirs with bread, some had theirs with pap, some with custard, some with Oats, others on it’s own. Some were eaten on that same day, some were preserved for another day.

So also are we as children of God. God placed us in different settings, at different times, to serve and bring glory to Him. As the scriptures above states, you have your unique usefulness. In some settings, others will support you to enhance your unique calling.

At other times, you may have to minister with people you don’t like or get along with. Don’t let anything deter you from living as led by His Spirit and dying to the flesh. At other times, you may have to rely solely on the Holy Spirit to make your relevance known. There might be times when you feel irrelevant in the scheme of things. Times will come when you may even doubt your calling or significance.

Believe you me, majority of people goes through these season of doubt, ask Elijah (1Kings 19:1-14) but the answer always lies in validating ourselves in His Word. God called you not man and He promised to not put more on you than you can bear – 1 Cor 10:13. HE alone will place you at settings that HE has divinely orchestrated for you to radiate His glory. Choose to be submissive and you will not miss His pleasure at the end of your journey.

Till next time when I bring you another article on lessons learnt, let me leave you with these verses in 2 Peter 1:10-11 “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Agape

Jesus Errand Daughter,

Rev Honour Adewole