Holy Guacamole: A Glorious Discovery of Your Undeniable WorthSýnishorn

 Holy Friendship 

  

One day, my friend Quinn asked me a doozy of a question in a Tex Mex restaurant: “What’s it really like to be a pastor’s wife?”

I stared at my plate, with its empty queso bowl and the big gap where enchiladas once sat. Only the obligatory serving of rice and beans remained. I noticed Quinn’s plate still had rice and beans on it too. A quick glance around at the other tables revealed that almost every abandoned dish still had rice and beans. The truth hit me like a mariachi band. 

“Being married to a pastor is like being the rice and beans on a plate of Tex-Mex. Nobody ordered me; I just came with my husband when they hired him. Everyone expects me to be there and to meet their personal needs, but no one is surprised if I’m not all that amazing in general. They just hope I’m not terrible, you know?”

Quinn looked at me with faithful eyes and spoke a blessing: “But you’re not rice and beans. You’re tableside guacamole.” 

I love you forever, Quinn Smith. 

Friendship and kindness often stretch to cover us until our souls catch up with God’s truth about who we are. A good friend reminds us that what we feel about ourselves is not always the truth. What Quinn blessed me with that day was a universal truth about all of God’s children. What’s true about me is also true about you. You are not left-over. You are not an extra person who was served up and must be scooted aside so that everyone can reach the queso better. You are unique and beautiful, a gift to the world that God is preparing for many, many great works. He has put the full measure of the Holy Spirit inside you. You are made holy and precious by the loving sacrifice of Jesus. Don’t be afraid. Savor the Word of God, written so that you would know the truth and so that the truth would set you free. Soak in the presence of God, which is always with you, singing over you with songs of joy and deliverance. 

There are no obligatory side dishes in the Kingdom of God. We are all holy tableside guacamole. We’re prepared fresh daily in Christ, with new mercies every morning. Should we fail to fully live out the love God has put in us today, He’ll save us from our distress. If the day offers us bad news, we can cling to the hope that what our enemy has meant for evil, God intends for good. Failure is never our final destiny in Jesus.