Relationship Nightmares

Have you ever seen one of those reality shows where a celebrity chef goes to a failing restaurant and tries to turn it around? Like Kitchen Nightmares or Restaurant: Impossible. One of my favorites in that category is Kitchen Nightmares. I'm not sure why I like to watch it so much. There is some nasty stuff on there, and I get grossed out pretty easily. But the show is just very enticing to me. If you're not familiar with the premise: arguably the most successful chef in the entire world, Gordon Ramsey, travels across the country to very sad, pitiful restaurants and uses his knowledge to help the staff turn their business around so they don't have to close down. Gordon Ramsey is very...well, let's just say he is very aggressive. Alright, he is a complete jerk sometimes, and upsets a lot of the people he encounters. However, like I said earlier, he is quite possibly the most successful person in the culinary industry. This success gives him a lot of credibility in my mind when he is saying something. But, one of the funniest things about the show to me is that these people who own or work in failing restaurants are so stuck in their ways that they actually argue with Chef Ramsey about the changes that need to be made. It just amazes me that people are so blind to their mistakes and won't listen to the one guy that gives them the best chance to survive. Throughout the rest of the show, Chef Ramsey often will redesign the restaurant, change the menu, and sometimes change the staff as well. He does all of this over a one-week period in order to "re-launch" the restaurant at the end of the week to bring about a new atmosphere and give the place a new identity. You might be wondering why I'm blogging about a TV show. I promise that I have a point.

The other day I was watching an episode, and I started thinking: "How accurately this describes our relationship with God!" One particular chef decided that his cooking was better than Chef Ramsey's, and this gentleman was not going to hear any of Ramsey's suggestions. It started a really big scene in the kitchen while customers were waiting for food (ratings boost, much?). Toward the end of the episode though, the chef began to come to his senses and applied the suggestions of Chef Ramsey. According to the show, that particular restaurant is now a great success in their city. But throughout the show, I started being reminded of how much I'm like the failing chef. There are so many times in my life that I know God has told me what He wants me to do, but I argue with Him and try to convince Him (and myself) that my way is going to be better. I'm so stubborn that I actually continue to fail so that I can say I'm taking care of things on my own, when in reality I'm just getting closer and closer to "shutting down". When I allow God to come in, change my selfish ways, "redesign" my heart, change my attitude, and sometimes change the people I surround myself with, I begin to see Him in a clearer, brighter light. He becomes the center of my thoughts, my words, and my actions. He guides me through this world and teaches me along the way. Sometimes that process brings tears, and sometimes it brings a great deal of hurt. But I'm being sanctified by the grace of God. And I'm grateful for those hard times, because through them, I feel myself pressing more into my Savior. And in doing that, I'm learning that He is the only source of my survival, and the only bringer of salvation.