One of the positive side-effects of the covid pandemic was the return of many of us to our kitchens. I read of lots of people learning to cook from scratch and trying recipes never before attempted by their own hands.

Sourdough bread tops the list. Two friends of mine attempted to keep sourdough starters alive. One found other pandemic interests and let hers die, but the other loved it and still bakes bread. I’m amazed at the bread starter—you must feed the yeast to keep it alive.

Jesus borrowed this idea to describe the kingdom of heaven: The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.

Not flashy, rather slow, yet unstoppable.

The Christian faith in Africa spread this way over the last one hundred years. From a few missionaries the gospel spread person to person, until today hundreds of millions follow Jesus.

Or consider the Christian faith in China, where over one hundred million people pray to Jesus, despite years of brutal repression and official discouragement. China is on the way to become the largest “Christian” nation on earth and now sends missionaries to their neighbors.

Not flashy, rather slow, yet unstoppable.

Perhaps you’re praying for someone who appears far from the Lord? Be encouraged, the Lord’s not far from them. Pray for a speck of the kingdom to tumble into their life. Hearts soften, the distant return, and the goodness of the Lord rises in their consciousness.

Not flashy, rather slow, yet unstoppable.

Matthew 13 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Geoffroy Delobel