The recipe required stirring up the ingredients. Simple? No.

No matter what I did, lumps and clumps remained. Really? How hard could this be? I stabbed it viciously with my spoon. Stir high. Stir low. Stir fast. Stir slow. Stir in the corners and crevices to make sure no loose powder remained. Stirring and stirring and stirring my batter. This would not defeat me. It would… be stirred up!

Getting something stirred up can at times be hard. Surprisingly, later, as I was rummaging through cabinets, I saw my blender with this on the control panel: STIR FUNCTION. Blenders have stir functions? Apparently I have missed out on that.

In Exodus 34, Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after being with the Lord forty days and forty nights. His face was SHINING because he had been in God’s Presence.

In Exodus 35:1-2, he gathered the congregation together and told them what the Lord had commanded them to do. I guess they loved hearing the first part, which was to make the Sabbath a day of rest.

Wonderful. A day of rest. But wait… he was not finished. In Exodus 35:5, he told them that whoever was of a willing heart was to bring an offering to the Lord.

Yes, the ones invited to give were those who were willing. He wanted them to give from a generous heart – not from a guilty conscience.

He then told about the needs for the Tabernacle. When he finished, the people departed.

I guess they went about their day, but their minds were certainly on what they had seen and heard. Maybe they said this, “Did you see that glow on his face? He surely had been with the Lord!”

Exodus 35:21 says, “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering.”

That STIR FUNCTION was on!

Their hearts had been stirred up!

Their spirits were made willing!

They brought their offering.

And guess what? Exodus 36:5 says that the people brought MUCH more than enough.

How can our hearts stay stirred up? My recipe noted that if the batter is stored in a clean container – or a clean vessel – it may stay stirred up. Hmm? I suppose that could work for our hearts, as well.

Lord, stir up our hearts. Make our spirits willing. Accept our offering. Amen

Ann is a speaker and teacher. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com