The hole in the donut.
Picture a donut. Any donut will do. Is it glazed or covered in sugar? Or is it a fancy one with coloured icing and sprinkles? Does it have a filling? When you eat it, do you try and eat the entire thing without licking your lips or your fingers? Or do you enjoy it with a cup of tea or coffee?
I like the ones with custard in them, but I quite like jam too. Or even one with a chocolate hazelnut filling and chocolate and sprinkles on top. Ooh, I once had one with cinnamon sugar, that was a good donut. In fact, I’m not particularly fussy. If you offer me a donut I will probably enjoy it.
Even if it has a hole in the centre.
Bear with me for a second. When everything in life looks great on the outside and you have everything you need (job, house, car, holiday) and life is just fab, that’s like a topped and filled donut, a ‘Krispy Kreme’ season. Sometimes life just feels good. We feel satisfied and content with what we have although it may not look like anything special. That’s a ‘filled donut’ season.
But sometimes life maybe isn’t so great. Maybe there are worries eating away inside, or fears are stopping us from enjoying everything we could experience. Those feelings are real, but sometimes they can feel all consuming. That’s like a ‘ring donut’ season.
‘Ring donut’ seasons happen to all of us at some point in our lives. The hole can seem so big it’s almost overwhelming and it’s hard to focus on anything else. But even in those periods, we still have God. There is a popular translation of John 14: 8 that says If God is all you have, you have all you need. Bible scholars may say that is not an accurate translation of that particular verse. However, I would say that the idea behind it is a bible theme. If you go back to Isaiah 43 and read the first 5 verses, that idea is there too. God is always with you. Through any troubles that you face, God is with you. No matter how big the hole is, there is still the donut around the edge.
So I think what I’m trying to say is, when life is like a filled donut, enjoy it, savour it, be thankful for it. But when there is a hole, remember there is still the donut around you. There is still God, and there are still God’s blessings. Maybe these take the form of family and/or friends. Maybe a house or financial support. Or maybe you feel that you literally only have God. There is still some donut there! Make some time to look at what you do have, what is making up the donut around you, and let God support you. Because God never abandons his children.
And you are a Child of God.
By Karen Taylor
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