Why My Toast (cut in half) Is An Encouragement To Me...And Might Be To You, Too!

By: Deana Bell, CK Director, Restored Marriage

It was a rainy and cold fall night in Charlotte and I had had a long day. I wasn't feeling well; I had barely eaten all day and the spiritual warfare I was experiencing that day was overwhelming. I had fed my family, but I didn't feel like eating, so at 10 pm I found myself hungry and tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed, but I heard the Lord tell me that I needed to nourish my body. I didn't have the strength to put together anything fancy, so I looked around and found a loaf of bread. That very minute the Lord reminded me that my mother used to make me toast with butter and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top as a treat. So, I popped a slice in the toaster and waited for it to get done. The Lord also reminded me that when I was younger and wasn't feeling well, my mom often would offer me a cup of tea with milk and sugar. I almost never drink tea today, but the thought of such a drink sounded curiously calming. I started making the tea for myself when the toaster went off. Without any more thought, I buttered the toast and sprinkled some cinnamon sugar on top. Again without thinking, I instinctively cut the toast in half on my plate. Suddenly a peace and calm came over me and tears started streaming down my face.

Immediately Matthew 6:25-26 popped into my brain. “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more that clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them." (So here was the part that really stuck in my mind) "And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are?"

It was as if the Lord was saying to me, "If your earthly mother loved you enough to cut your toast in half to make it easier to eat, how much more do you think that I will do for you?" I then started remembering all the times my mother put little notes in my lunch for school, added whipped cream to my hot cocoa, and washed my laundry for me when I came home from college. I remember that it was my mom's suggestion that my dad pick me up one day from school at lunch time and take me to McDonald's for a treat. And how, to this day, my mom is the ultimate present-giver. She meticulously commits to memory anything throughout the year that I might say interests me, and purchases it for me for Christmas. It never ceases to amaze me, when I open a gift from her, how she remembers the smallest things that I might have mentioned.

So how much more does my Father in Heaven love me? The Bible says that He has numbered every hair on my head (Matthew 10:30), that He knit me in my mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) and that He will never leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:8). In the midst of my marriage crisis, He was there. He spoke words to my heart that I could have never thought of myself. He provided me with every financial need that I had while my husband was away. He protected my kids from seeing and experiencing things that they should not have. He provided a Christian education for my children when I could barely afford to pay the bills.

After our restoration, He provided a house for us to live in that was 3 times the size of the one we owned before and at a price that was less than the cost of a townhouse. He provided a way for my son to attend his first choice of university and for it to be paid in full, four years in advance. And ultimately, He brought us to Charlotte, NC to do the job He has called us to do, all on His ticket.

But it's the little things that He does that always affect me the most. Like those times when I am anxious and He speaks His Word to my heart, "Deana, be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:6); I am with you." Or when my husband is traveling for work and I feel the presence of the Lord sitting beside me so I don't feel so alone. Or when He brings the deer from the surrounding area right to my backyard to feast and sleep on our property. Or when I look a mess in the local Target and someone asks if I need a prayer. Or when my prayer partner calls me out of the blue and tells me she has been praying for me that day. Or when I've been looking for a few more of those special plates for my Thanksgiving dinner that my local Target has been out of for weeks. He takes me to a neighboring town for something else and reminds me that there is another Target store nearby. I walk in and see THREE sets of the exact plates I have been looking for, all alone on a shelf that is otherwise completely empty, so that I do not miss them when I walk by.

HOW MUCH MORE?????

How much more does He love you? He loves you in the midst of your trials and in the highpoint of your successes. He loves you whether you love Him or not. He loves your spouse, no matter how far they are away from Him. He loves your children, despite the path they seem to be taking. He loves you when you're happy and when you’re sad. He loves you when you’re angry and when you’re peaceful. He loves you when you are reading His word and even when you haven't opened the Bible in a long time. He loves you no matter what!

I pray that today you will look for the little ways that God is working in your life. I pray that you see those ways and thank Him for them. I pray that you will feel His presence in your life no matter what you may be doing. I pray that you take the encouragement He has given to you and pass it along to someone else today. I pray that for all the days of your life, your toast is cut in half so that you can eat it easily. And that your life is sprinkled with little moments from above that make you smile and know that God Himself is near.