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Taste and See - Houston We Have A Problem!

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8, NIV

You all might be familiar with the following statement, “Houston, we have a problem.”  For some, you heard it live fifty years ago.  Others of us heard a rendition of it from the Apollo 13 movie in 1995.  And for some, you don’t have a clue what this saying means!

Let me share a reality from my life. Here lies my problem; the QT Corporation has decided to expand its market into the state of Colorado where I live.  Currently, there are three of the five QTs located within six miles east, south, and north of me.  Do you understand the problem?  Six miles east, six miles south, and six miles north (666).  It’s the devil’s ploy!  I first became acquainted with QT growing up in St. Louis and traveling throughout the Midwest.  As some of you know, QT is a gas station and convenience store and, in my opinion, has the best coffee a gas station could ever offer!  Well, it’s not just the coffee; it’s the mixture of the coffee and the cappuccino. There’s nothing like the sound of a cappuccino machine first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon, or maybe in the evening!  And just recently, I have discovered they have the best donuts too!  Are you seeing the problem?  It really puts a new spin on the Bible verse, “taste and see that the Lord is good!”  Yes, I’m taking the verse out of context and because I’m a Christian Education professor, who likes to make the Bible understandable and practical, I have permission to do so! (I say that with tongue in cheek!)

Okay, so you don’t think I have really lost it, let me get back on track and focus on the passage from Psalms.  From time to time, it is good for us to remember how good the Lord has been and is to us.  We need to stop and give Him thanks and realize He is guiding, protecting, and providing for our every need.  Even if it’s in something as simple as coffee, cappuccino, and donuts from QT!

My pastor where I congregate has been encouraging the congregation to read through the Bible this year.  So, my wife, Delberta, and I have made a commitment to be engaged in this endeavor.  So far, we have made it through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus (thank you, Lord), Numbers (Hallelujah), Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, and 1st and 2nd Kings (And David was a man after God’s own heart and Israel really wanted a King)?!?!?!  What is exciting for us as we read through these books of the Bible, we’re reminded just how God provided and promised good to His people, but we also read how stubborn and ungrateful His people were at times (so unlike us). (Another tongue in cheek moment!) What else is exciting and encouraging for us, we have two men in our Sunday School class who are new believers, and they have taken the challenge to read through the Bible as well.  These gentlemen show up on some Sundays, and they have deer-in-the-headlight looks, as we ask them or make references to, what we have discovered or rediscovered in our reading through the Bible journey.  We get to encourage them to keep on reading, keep on learning, and keep on seeing the goodness of God as He guides and leads His people.  We encourage them to keep on asking questions, to be students of the Word, and that we’re all learning together!  It’s exciting to see these gentlemen and others in our class discovering who God is and just how good God is and that we can trust Him and take refuge in Him. 

One of my favorite things I get to do as an NBC professor is to read the autobiographies of our students.  You want to talk about seeing and experiencing the goodness of God!  Our students’ lives and encounters with God reflect the goodness of God in some incredible ways. The students’ autobiographies really turn out to be testimonies of individuals who have “tasted and experience the goodness of the Lord,” and they are discovering what it means “to take refuge in Him” (even when we professors give them homework, failing grades, or make them follow and embrace MLA)! 

All of us can experience the goodness of God, whether people who live in Colorado and look west at the mountains, or people who you get to frequent the numerous QTs close by to where they live, or people who simply do what scripture says and “taste and see that the Lord is good; and take refuge in Him!” 

Dr. Jerry W. Storz, NBC faculty, Director Leadership and Ethics, and Christian Education Ministries Program

Published: 07/20/2023

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