The Jellybean Factor

factor: one of the elements contributing to a particular result or situation

A few years ago I watched an episode of “How It’s Made” on the Food Network and this particular episode was on the making of jellybeans. Now, I have always loved jellybeans, yes, they are pure sugar & have absolutely zero nutritional value but boy are they delicious. Since I [for the most part] have eliminated processed sugar from my diet, I haven’t had any jelly beans for years & to be honest, every once in a while I’d like to have one; I like the colors, the hard shell, the smell, everything about them.

What hit me about this episode was not so much how they were made but the drying process involved. The jellybeans are put on a sheet, placed in a dry, temperature-controlled room & left for a week to harden & set. In our microwave I-want-it-now society, many attempts have been made to speed up this process with fans, hair dryers, refrigerators & freezers, etc but the end result was undesirable & somewhat inedible. The only thing that made the jellybean’s shell hard, shiny & ready for consumption was the passage of time.

I’ve been meditating on these two Scriptures lately:

“Be still & know that I am the Lord...” Psalm 46:10a

“Let patience have her perfect/perfecting work...” James 1:4a

During this pandemic & the stay-at-home orders, many people are keeping busy: getting projects done, cleaning their houses, learning new skills & honing existing ones, rediscovering God, doing offline/online Bible studies & devotionals, learning a new language, writing & recording new songs, leading online worship,  teaching online, teaching cooking skills, reading books to kids, engaging w/ missionaries overseas, the list is endless & I commend those who are making the most of this extra time.

On the other side of the pendulum, there are also those who’ve been over-busy, their lives were nonstop from sunrise to sunset w/ work or schooling or their kids sports 8 nights a week or ministry & this is a time of rest & resetting for them but they’re really struggling w/ it as they’re the type of people who are results-oriented & try to “rush the jellybean” when this period of inactivity is meant to mature & perfect them.

A few years back I was working full-time, extensively involved in ministry, attended class after class, had Bible Study for an hour or two every evening, was consumed in Hebrew/Greek exegesis study, read every commentary I could come across, etc & it was good. So I had a vacation coming up & I took a week off from work, fully intending to continue  my Biblical studies & hard pace but I just felt in my spirit “nah” just rest. So for that week I did zero Bible reading/studying (gasp!). In the morning I would get up, sit in the gazebo w/ my cup of coffee & just meditate on God. I saw things I never saw before, shades of colors on the leaves & the lawn as the sun came up, I closed my eyes & heard the birds during their morning worship service. I rested, I relaxed & all the Scripture I had been feeding on for months came rushing back to me, nourishing my spirit & my soul. Other mornings I went for a pre-dawn walk or bike ride, others I went to the beach, prayed & watched the sunrise over the land, listening to the waves hit the shore & the cries of the seagulls, it was so beautiful, it was so calming & during that week I knew what my priorities had been & what they needed to be. 

We’ve all tried to rush the maturing process but for me, it took that time of inactivity to do a very real maturing process in my spirit & soul, a time where I could clearly hear the voice of the Lord & when it was over, I was refreshed & ready.