“How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.” Psalm 84: 1-2
I don’t know about you, but I reside with a well-stocked pantry and a rotating list of easy, any day of the week recipes that can be created in a pinch. Stir Fry Pork is one of those recipes, pulled together in a matter of minutes utilizing leftover pork roast. The meal is pseudo-Chinese, Americanized and dumbed down to requiring only some soy sauce, corn starch, brown sugar, orange or pineapple juice, a bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables and the leftover pork. I spruce it up with frozen egg rolls, which I often have on hand. My husband loves this dinner.
My husband also loves it when I cook, which has been a bit hit or miss lately as I have been doing frequent overnight trips to see family. Arriving home in the late afternoon post one of those trips, I determined I had sufficient time to throw Stir Fry Pork together. I had served pork roast just before I left so I was confident it would take no time at all. Then I looked in the pantry. No soy sauce. Actually, there wasn’t any rice either. And no egg rolls jumped out of the freezer. Hmm . . . the stir fry vegetables were non-existent as well. My leftover meal was going to need a trip to the store.
My husband arrived home in the midst of my cooking quandary. Stir Fry Pork? He was all in, we went to the store together, and almost four hours later we ate dinner, that easy leftover meal that takes no time to prepare. Apparently you have to prepare, even for leftovers!
In my hurried world, sometimes I offer God my leftovers. I assume I have the basics covered, and that our relationship is fine. I mean it doesn’t matter if I run in and out of the church building, barely in time and hurrying to the next thing, does it? God understands how busy I am.
The truth is, it does matter. Both to God and to me. Leftovers can be great, but let’s face it they can also be dry, tasteless and repetitious. Leftovers can prevent starvation. They can be elevated to almost a new meal, but they will never be as delicious and special as a carefully planned and executed meal. In the same way our faith will not mature and be as flavorful and aromatic if we relegate it to the seconds in between the rest of our lives.
Leftover worship, unplanned, unprepared for and without purpose leaves us dry and dusty. When we come running into a service, out of breath, we send the message that God is not worth our time. Everything else is worth our time, or demands our time. Dutifully we race into church but our hearts and minds wander, not entering fully into worship.
Most times of worship happen routinely, the same time and place every week. Why is it so hard to prepare for worship from week to week? Like making dinner daily, sometimes it seems that all we have to work with is leftovers, even though we know that hunger and the dinner hour approach.
So how can we prepare for worship in such a way that our offering is a fragrant aroma to God, a five star gourmet meal? What if we considered our weekly time with God as important as eating? As the most urgent appointment of the week? As the most important opportunity of our week? We all take time to eat, to feed our physical bodies. Nourishing our spirits is infinitely more important than feeding our bodies, yet we leave it to the last moment, an afterthought after a busy week.
The author of Psalm 84 did not relegate worship to a necessary duty. He longed for times of fellowship with God. He yearned for moments of worship. His greatest joy was the presence of the Almighty God. It appears that the psalmist believed his time with God really was the most important opportunity of his week. It was not leftover time, it was the reservation he intended to attend to.
Let me challenge you this week, to prepare for your time with God. Make a plan that will allow you to arrive at church ten minutes early. Take some time to pray before you go. How will God minister to you as you worship? How will you minister to others? How can you offer praise to the creator of the universe? How will you sing for joy to the living God? How can you share that joy with the other people in your world? Time in worship, time with God, is the most blessed time of your life, don’t make it your leftovers.
Stir Fry Pork
- Cooked pork roast, sliced into strips of meat, about 2 cups
- 1 16 oz. bag frozen stir-fry vegetables, I like to have water chestnuts included
- 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup juice, orange or pineapple
- 2 Tbsp corn starch
- 4 Tbsp brown sugar
Slice pork into thin strips. Cook vegetables until almost done. Place meat, vegetables and 1/2 cup of water in heavy skillet over medium heat. In small bowl combine soy sauce, juice, corn starch and brown sugar, stir until there are no lumps. Add this liquid to the hot meat and vegetables, stirring as mixture thickens. Turn heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
Serve over rice with egg rolls!
This recipe can be adapted to include cooked onions, cabbage, peas and carrots. Pork can be replaced by chicken as well.