The Two-Pot Generosity of God

A short story about my Aunt Becky’s baller cooking (and what it taught me about God's generous heart)

3 minute read. Audio also included for those who prefer to listen.

A Story About My Aunt Becky

If you don’t have an Aunt Becky I feel bad for you. She’s visiting West Palm Beach right now, so what better time to share how God showed me his heart through her home cooking?

During a visit to Philly last winter, Aunt Becky invited me over to her house. We’re good friends, so I eagerly knocked. She greeted me, hugged me, and ushered me out of the snow into her warm kitchen. Then she asked the most Aunt Becky question of all:

“Did you eat before you came?”

I’d just eaten a sandwich, but I admitted I wouldn’t refuse “a little edge” if she had something in mind.

The ideas started simple - a salad perhaps? But before long she had her recipe book out and was churning through pages like she was trying to make butter. “Aha!” she said at last, and sent me off to relax my muscles in an epsom salt bath.

An hour later I emerged from the bath.

The kitchen smelled way too good.

On the stove were two pots. One was chickpea curry. The other was coconut sticky rice. And if you need a metric for what it meant to me, try this: I said “my goodness” more times that afternoon than Owen Wilson said “wow” in his whole career.

As I loaded up my first of three helpings, I said, “Aunt Becky this makes me so happy.”

She replied, “Toby, it makes me happy to make you happy.”

Does God Care About the Things I Want/Like?

For so much of my life I’ve struggled to believe it makes God happy to make me happy. I used to believe he’d meet our needs, but felt it would be greedy of me to want anything beyond the basics. But now I think otherwise. I think he really gets a kick out of blessing us. I think he’s hyped to cook us hot, spicy stuff and is legitimately thrilled to satisfy our heart’s desires with good things. Why do I think so?

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits … who satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles.” (From Psalm 103)

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:4-5)

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

And my favorite of all:

Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!” (Psalm 35:27, emphasis added)

Not only does God agree to meet our needs, but it seems he’s actually giddy about giving us more than we need. Remember, Aunt Becky didn’t just make me one pot. She went for two.

No, he doesn’t give us everything we want - because his wisdom is bigger than our short-term wishes. But he certainly isn’t in the business of withholding good from those who walk rightly with him (Psalm 84:11).

So What?

I believe God’s got a fat recipe book, a giving heart, and a deep desire for our well-being. Our job is simple: to delight in him, not in the recipe.

I think he wants us to be ok with just a sandwich and to enter into his cozy kitchen without an entitled spirit, caring more for his company than his cooking. And when we’re in that place of contentment in him, our desires match his.

And boom, that’s curry baby. Let’s trust in him today! (Brb, gunna eat some leftovers real quick.)

Toby DeMoss

(PS, we hit 300 club members this week!)

Woohoo! You guys make my day. I love getting texts and emails and learning how the Lord uses my work to help the church in the quiet ways. Thank you for being a part of something special to me.