When I was a young boy growing up, my mom would make homemade bread.  Let me just say there is nothing like the aroma of homemade bread baking in the oven.  And while we’re at it, let me also say there is also nothing like the taste of melted butter on a still steaming slice of bread.

As much as I enjoyed the smell and taste of my mom’s homemade bread when I was young, it was the process of the bread rising that was most fascinating.  How could a small lump of dough grow big enough to fill a large baking pan all by itself?

I know now that yeast was the cause of that miracle.  Something that was unseen, the yeast, and a task I was unaware of, my mom adding and working the yeast into the dough, created something wonderful!

“And again he (Jesus) said, ‘To what should I compare the kingdom of God?  It is like yeast that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.’” (Luke 13:20-21, NRSV)

We often want and look for something big from God… something we can clearly see and know… something to our liking.  But God’s reign, will, power, and grace in your life and world almost always begins in small, even hidden, ways.  You might not be able to see it, but rest assured the Holy Spirit is actively seeking to work the yeast of God’s kingdom deep into your heart, body, mind, and soul. 

My prayer is that we will to be open to that divine work of love and grace in us, and that we’re willing to wait for how it will rise up and fill our lives… creating something wonderful!