Your Seasoning: How Faith Guides Us to Enrich Lives and Spread God’s Word

For those of us who like to cook. We know that we have to add a little flavor to our food when we are cooking. We must put a little extra zing to make the dish pop. Sometimes, the recipe even calls for a specific seasoning for a particular dish. If you do not add that specific seasoning, then the dish will be missing something. The dish will taste bland or just not quite right. As Christians, we are called to spread the Word of God. We add that little extra something to the mix. We show the world who our God is. To let them know just how good our God is. We add seasoning to their lives. What seasoning are you sprinkling into the world today?

I guess you are asking, “What do you mean?” by seasoning, uhm, what seasoning are you talking about? The seasoning is in your testimony. The seasoning is in your walk and your talk. The seasoning is in your works. The seasoning is in your fellow man seeing God in you. The seasoning is sharing the Word of God with others. The Bible has many scriptures that you could share. Stories of trials and tribulations. Stories of encouragement and sacrifice. The Bible is your recipe book; there are many things you could utilize to sprinkle seasoning into the lives of others.

I remember before I retired from working, I was ready to retire way before the Lord was ready for me to. Where I worked, there was a lot of chaos from the top to the bottom. Teams were not working together, and many times, the word team could not even be described as a part of the culture. There was much backstabbing and abusive type of behavior, with people coming against each other all the time. It was a position in which I provided guidance. I brought the team together. It seemed like every time I took one step forward, something would happen, and we would move two steps back. The progress I felt made was lost. As a team, the progress seemed lost, but God showed me that, as individuals, there was hope. I would always hear God saying stop looking at the numbers and look at the individuals. Just tackle each person, one situation at a time. Even though I heard God say that, it was still frustrating. I did not know how to get these individuals to come together as one at times, and I was over it. I felt it was time for me to move on. Unfortunately, that was not in God’s plan. He was not ready for me to move on. There was still more seasoning for me to do.

I recall asking God if it was time yet. I have done all that I can do here. This team only wants to do things the way they want to do them. They have lost focus on what is most important. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. It made me think of the children of Israel, murmuring and complaining in the wilderness. They forgot the promise that God made to them. They forgot to trust Him. They wanted to do their own thing. Some of them even wanted to go back to where they came from. When God answered my question, I heard Him clearly say, “No, they still need you.” I did not understand what that meant at the time, but I continued trusting God and listening for His voice to give me direction. I began to realize why I was still there and why He had not moved me yet. Proverbs 3:5-6 says 5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him. And he shall direct thy paths”. I had to trust Him. He brought me to this job. He had a plan, and I was a part of that plan. Many times, we lean to our own understanding and get off track from what God would have us to do. Instead of providing seasoning, we add vinegar to the mix. We provide something else which is not of God. We want to give up and walk away. We allow our frustrations and emotions to take over and begin removing God from the equation. God must always be a part of the process.

What God did was bring me back to thinking about the individuals and not the actual group. He said to focus on one and watch me work. As I was going about my duties, I realized that there were individuals that I had been working with and providing directions to all along. Not teams or groups. I began to realize, without knowing it, that that really had not been my focus. There were individuals who needed to hear a kind word. There were individuals who needed to know that they could do anything they put their mind to. There were individuals there who were lost, and they needed to hear a word from God. There were individuals that needed to be encouraged. There were individuals who just needed to know it was okay and better days were coming. There were individuals there who were going through some things, and ending their lives was now what they felt was an option. They needed to know that God loved them and that taking their life truly was not an option. There were individuals there struggling with addictions that no one knew about. There were individuals there who needed God, and I was the seasoning He had planted there to bring them closer to Him. He had planted me there, not I, myself.

We get so caught up in our lives and what we think we are supposed to be doing and do not even realize that it was God who brought us there. That it was God that planted us there. That it was God all along moving us in that direction. Just like a great dish, it needs seasoning to give it that extra something. God’s people need seasoning today. God’s people need to hear from other believers that He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings! They need to hear that they can do all things through Christ that strengthens them. They need to hear that there is a man who sits high and looks low and loves His children dearly. God needs you to add some seasoning to someone’s life today. God needs you to step in and be the light of the world today. Someone needs you in that job. Someone needs you to step in and help that family member. Someone needs you to implement that plan. Someone needs you to start that ministry. Someone needs you to take that first step. Someone needs you today. It is not about you; it is about God. What I learned through this process was that God brought me to that place of employment. He had work for me to do. He needed me to touch lives and provide encouragement. He needed me to speak to His people. He needed me to mend those that were brokenhearted. I brought the seasoning to the dish. I did it with the help of my Heavenly Father. Stop thinking it is all about you. Whatever it is you are going through right now or struggling with, give it to God and let Him handle it. The trials and tribulations you are going through can help strengthen others going through the same situation. Let Him use you to help others.

With each day, situation, triumph, or tribulation, I approach it with the means of what God wants me to do in this situation. Why am I here? Why is this happening? How can I make this a testimony?  What seasoning are you sprinkling on the world today? Remember, your seasoning could be in your testimony. Your seasoning could be in your conversations. Your seasoning could be in the way you do your job. Your seasoning could be in your actions. Quite possibly, someone could be watching you do your job, and you could be encouraging them to take the next step. Your seasoning is in your journey of life. Spreading the Word of God. Your seasoning is your gifts and talents that God has placed inside of you. Your seasoning could quite simply be the smile you bring to the workplace, your home, your friends, or that stranger you pass on the sidewalk. Your life is your testimony. Let them see God in you. God has placed you where you are today to encourage someone. This was by design. You are not there by happenstance. Sprinkle some seasoning into the lives of others. The seasoning is God. Let them see God in you.