It was one of the most challenging tasks I had been given. Mother returned from work by 3pm and said she was hungry. I had been home playing with my baby brother, waiting for Mother to come home and make lunch. Next thing she said, “Prepare rice and stew for the house, and bring mine to my room!”

“Me?” I asked, totally confused and not sure I heard well.

“Yes you,” she replied both in anger and irritation. “How can I have a daughter as old as you, and I come back tired from work to start cooking lunch?” That was all. She went to her room and I was left to prepare lunch.

Boiling the rice was not the issue. I could put rice in water, leave it on fire and pour water till it was soft. The stew was the challenge. I had never cooked before and I could not recall watching anyone preparing stew. I was angry with mother. As I gathered the ingredients to make the stew, I wondered why she was punishing me, her sixteen year old daughter, by telling me to do something I had never done before and leaving me all alone to do it.

I managed to get past the stage of getting the firewood to produce fire and on to the stage of wondering if the onions go in before the oil or vice versa. I don’t know what I did that day. I just put the ingredients in the pot as I felt. At some point, everything seemed to be going wrong. The firewood began to produce huge flames and my pot was boiling over. The tears dripping down my cheek were caused by both the smoke from the firewood and the fact that Mother had left me all alone to carry out this daunting task. Just when I was about to cry, I heard a voice saying, ‘stir the stew and taste it!” I looked up to see my mother in the balcony that overlooked the courtyard where I was cooking. I hid a smile but was glad she had come to my rescue. I obeyed her.

‘How does it taste?” she asked.

“Sour,” I replied, “I think the tomatoes are rotten.”

She laughed. “Add salt little by little until you stop tasting the sour taste.”

I did as she said. Then I noticed the sour taste finally gave way to something that tasted like my mother’s stew. For me it was a wonderful knowledge. That experience birthed my passion for cooking.

Many years later, I realize that Mother was watching me quietly while I cooked. She believed that I could do it and she was there to ensure I did not make a mistake. Just when she knew the stew was about to burn, she alerted me. She stepped in right on time. It is similar to several experiences I have had when I thought God had abandoned me, only to find out He had great plans for me and He had never left my side.

There are times when you may feel you are alone. You may feel that the tasks in your hands are too difficult for you. You may feel that the challenges or situations you are facing is overwhelming, and God is not with you.  He says to you, “I will watch quietly from My dwelling place- as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest” [Isaiah 18:4, NLT]. He appears silent not because He is unconcerned. It is because He has a perfect plan which must come to pass, amidst all the agitations and changes going on around you. He watches quietly over you. He protects you and takes care of you. He has His eyes and heart on you with loving thoughts.

When you feel like God is not near, remember, you are not alone. He is watching quietly, awaiting the appointed time to step in. Pray for an added sense of His presence during such times. He will not give you more than you can bear. When you get to the end of the journey, you will realize that indeed He was with you all the way. He trusts you enough to allow you pass through certain situations, knowing by His grace you have the ability to overcome and you will come out refined like gold. Do you trust His judgment about you and in His ability to see you through?

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