Supposing will cost you

“I suppose I can do this.” This was my initial thought when I first went to make mayonnaise. My dream was to have a sandwich with mayonnaise. And I was willing to do almost anything to make that happen. Little did I know how wrong I was in supposing that making mayonnaise was easy.

My recipe didn’t call for many ingredients: oil, egg, salt, mustard, and vinegar. What I wasn’t told about mayonnaise is that the oil must be added slowly as it’s being blended. Also, the oil should be clear, not cloudy, for the best result. Where I lived (1987, Kalemie, Zaire), it was not easy to find good quality cooking oil. The most common was a brand, “Oki” that was cloudy in appearance. This made me wonder what was in it, but I tried not to wonder too much.

Supposing cost me

Time and again I followed directions given to me, and time and again I failed. I dissolved into tears after many attempts moaning about the expense of the lost oil. Reluctantly, I resigned myself to failure until a friend came and talked me through the process. She pointed out that I was making two errors: the oil I was using was cloudy and I wasn’t adding it correctly. She brought a bottle of good oil to my kitchen and demonstrated the process. Remember this was years before the advent of YouTube and the internet, where I could’ve gotten a video tutorial. Having a friend show me the process was priceless. And, it was simple:

Add all ingredients to the blender, except ¾ of the oil.
Blend.
Trickle clear oil into the blender as it’s running and the mayonnaise will emulsify.

That night we had sandwiches with real mayonnaise. My dream came true! Who knew sandwiches could taste as good as they did that night? I finally succeeded in making mayonnaise. But supposing I could do it without knowing the process was messy and expensive. My supposing I could do it easily cost me.

Supposing without connecting

Supposing we understand is a common problem. Life is full of supposing moments. When we suppose we can do something without actually connecting with God first, we risk disaster. Supposing will cost us dearly if we don’t take time to understand the One we are serving.

Consider Moses who had an experience with supposing in Acts 7:23-25 NASB “…it entered his mind to visit his brethren…and he supposed his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.”

Moses knew he was a Hebrew since “it entered his mind to visit his brethren.” He was also a member of Pharaoh’s household. He supposed that the people would understand that with his status, he would deliver them. While he knew he was chosen, he didn’t know the One Who chose him. He assumed he would do the job himself.

He supposed wrong.

Supposing cost 40 years

Moses fled to Midian after he killed an Egyptian. There he stayed for 40 years, married, had children, was a shepherd, and the dream of deliverance was long-forgotten. Until God appeared to him and he came to know Him Who called him to deliver His people.

Acts 7:35 NASB “This Moses whom they disowned, saying ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.”

Once Moses knew Who God was, he was sent to be the deliverer of the Hebrews. The difference was that when Moses went back to Egypt, he knew he wasn’t doing the work in himself. God was working through him.

We have to know Him first

God wants to work through us, but before we can see the miraculous, we have to know Him. There’s no way we can work for God without having Him work in us first. Otherwise, our lives become like cloudy oil that can’t emulsify or unite with God and His purpose. Blending with His purposes to the point where we can’t tell where we end and God begins comes with a great expense of being misunderstood and rejected by those around us because our lives make absolutely no sense on the outside.

No, it doesn’t make sense to others, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Like a perfect batch of mayonnaise.