The Life of the Dough

Each Sunday Glen begins the day making the dough for our afternoon pizza.  He carefully measures and then blends the ingredients.  Once the dough has reached the perfect consistently it must be set aside, in a warm place, to rise.

When we return home, Glen removes the dough from the bowl and begins to pull and stretch it.  Once it is stretched to the proper dimensions on the pan, he pierces it all over with a fork.

Once the pizza ingredients are applied, the dough is put into a 500° oven to bake until the ingredients are cooked and the crust a golden brown.

Then we eat it!

All these steps are necessary in the life of the dough.  Without the time of stillness, the dough would not rise and the texture would not result in the crunchy but tender pizza crust.

Without the strethcing, the dough would be thick, perhaps even gummy.

Without the piercing, the dough would cook differently as a result of the steam under the dough.

Without the hot oven, well that would just be a yucky pizza.

Glen, through much practice, knows exactly how long the dough needs to rise.  He knows exactly how much to stretch the dough.  He knows exactly how much it needs to be pierced and how long it needs to bake.  He is a master at pizza.

We have a Master as well, who knows exactly what we need in our lives to turn us into the "perfect pizza."

Sometimes He needs to set us aside so that He can do a work in us that is inward, that results in us "growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."  He knows that sometimes we need to be stretched -- admonished and challenged.  Sometimes only a piercing will do.  Finally, there are times we must be put into the hot oven.  It makes me think of this verse from the hymn, "How Firm a Foundation:"

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

 

 

The Lord knows exactly what, and how much, we need to be conformed to the image of His dear Son, so that we can be a blessing, an encouragement and a comfort to those around us.  Like the dough, we would not be perfect without any of the steps.