“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:9-11

Oh No, Honey!

I don’t know how many of you have experienced the joys of cleaning up a mess of honey, but it calls to mind a few other kitchen disasters I’ve had—like the time I blew up the pressure cooker and partially cooked chicken parts clung precariously to the ceiling, as I dodged trickles of broth from below. Now that was a good time!

But back to the present. It seemed like such a thrifty idea for this wannabe Proverbs 31 woman to use every bit of honey I had in the pantry, so I set about the careful task of melting down any that had crystalized. Carefully placing a full one-pound glass jar in a pot of very hot water on my stove, I waited for the magic to happen. Sure enough, it was almost completely liquefied in short order.

Next, I removed that jar and decided to put a partially filled, plastic five-pound container in the hot water. No problem, except the plastic jar wanted to do some floating around, so with a stroke of genius, I placed the glass one-pound jar on top of the plastic jar to hold it in place—oh, yes, brilliant, more than brilliant. I turned away to the sink, and that’s when I heard it.

Crash, crack! In dismay, I realized the glass jar had fallen off onto the cast iron grill top and broke all over my stove. Delightfully thin, warm honey ran unrestrainedly into every nook and cranny of my downdraft range quicker than I could say, “There’s a honeybee in my bonnet!”

As I sopped up the mess and picked through broken glass shards, I realized an entire pound of honey was now wasted. “Why, oh why, did this have to happen,” I lamented to God! What’s wrong with this picture? Now before you start to feel even a tiny bit sorry for me, there’s just one more piece to this sad tale.

When I had placed the glass jar of honey on top of the plastic jar, a still, small voice whispered in the depth of my being, “NOT a good idea.” Hmm. But like so many things I can look back on over the years, the warning was left unheeded.

I do think God tries to get through to us in so many ways, but we often set our own course and go headlong into danger. After my silly honey calamity, I’m vowing to tune my inner ear to the warning voice of the Lord.

“Thank You, Jesus, for caring enough about us to offer warnings in Your Word and deep within our spirits to spur us on to good behavior and righteous living. Open our ears to hear! Amen!”