Stuffing the Whole Muffin Into My Mouth by Gail Purath

In an act of defiance, the little girl shoved the rest of the muffin into her small mouth...


I was sitting in Panera pondering Psalm 66:16-20.

“Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me. I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!”

Two concepts in those verses jumped out at me: 
1. cherished sin 
2. God not listening to our prayers when we cherish sin. 

I understood the first, but not the second.  How can God not hear our prayers?

As I was pondering, a mother and young daughter sat down at a table close to me. The little girl, about four years old, sat in her mom’s lap as they played and laughed and gave each other hugs. Then the little girl asked if she could sit on the ledge of the fireplace and eat her muffin.

Her mother gave her permission and they continued to exchange light conversation, smiles and laughter until the little girl began eating too fast.

“Don’t take such big bites,” her mother warned, “You’ll make yourself sick.”

The child looked up for a moment and then, in an act of defiance, she shoved the rest of the muffin into her small mouth.

“Time out!” her mom said firmly, picking her up from the ledge of the fireplace and placing her back on a chair. “You didn’t listen to me.”

The little girl struggled to finish the massive amount of muffin in her mouth while loudly complaining and whining.

“I’m not listening,” her mother said calmly, “You’re in time out.”

The daughter tried a few more times to protest but to no avail. Her mother wasn’t ‘listening.’


After about five minutes, the child calmed down, mom talked to her about what she’d done, and she jumped back on mom’s lap for more play.

“Wow!” I thought, “I get it.”

Cherishing sin is doing the very thing God has asked us not to do. It’s valuing our sin more than the loving warnings of our heavenly Parent. It’s stuffing the whole muffin into our mouth at once.

And when we do this, God puts us in “time out” to get our attention. He doesn’t stop loving us, nor does He stop hearing us. But He stops 'listening' until we are ready to give up our rebellion and climb back into His lap.

Isn’t it amazing how God speaks to us through the ordinary events of our lives?

You’ll often see me and my husband Michael at Panera working on our computers. If you see us, stop by and introduce yourself. I love meeting WOW blog readers. Please leave a comment on the blog as well. All of the writers enjoy hearing your feedback. If you “subscribe” in the upper right hand corner of the blog, you’ll receive an email notification whenever a new devotion is posted.  If you are looking for a particular article or author, use the search provided on the side bar.

Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 1-18; Psalm 65-67

Key passages for this devotion:Psalm 66:16-20