Making Cake on Fast Day

I had to make a cake Sunday, on a day when I was fasting for religious reasons.  My beliefs require me to take in no food or water for a certain period of time during a fast.  Unless there is a health concern, I take this seriously and do not let anything down my gullet.

But when I make a cake, I like to, you know, have a taste.  Or two.

I kept reminding myself I couldn't.  Like, it was a sacred duty not to touch it.

It made me think of other things that I might want to do but cannot because it is not the right time.  And of how hard it can be at times to curb our impulses.  And of how we sometimes work to create something that we hope to enjoy later, but cannot enjoy at the time.

I thought about building relationships, planting gardens, sewing a dress, storing up a retirement fund, myriad things.  I thought about gardens planted for others to harvest.  Blessings stacked up in heaven while we make sacrifices on earth.

All with the do-not-touch-that's-for-later-not-now mentality.  

It seems hard at the time to put off gratification, to toil without reward.  But I knew that, after our simple dinner, after fasting all day, we would be very glad for the treat I was preparing.  Even though the time for this particular "reward" was only a few hours away, it seemed hard to "not touch" in the moment.  Yet, if I didn't create the cake then, during the hours I was fasting, I would certainly not be able to enjoy it when it was time to have it.  If I made the cake after I stopped fasting, I would have to wait more hours to have it.  

And I thought, "This cake will taste sweeter to me because I made it while fasting, and because, when I am ready to eat, it will be ready, too."

This morning when I had a hard minute at the gym, I knew in my head that I would be finished in 26 more minutes, and that I'd feel good about my workout when I got finished. . . if I finished. And not so good about it if I didn't.  It helped me persist.

 

I wonder how many things in life are like that--better at the end if you prepare for them when it hurts to, instead of waiting until it's time, or there isn't a sacrifice involved--other than that your reward is that much further delayed than it had to be. Raising children is one thing that came to mind.  Generally, you reap the rewards of what you sowed.

What current struggles are you making that you know will pay off in the end?