Substitutes

A tattered magazine cut-out of my Mom’s lists substitutions for different baking items. Short of brown sugar? Just add two tablespoons of molasses to a cup of white. Have no soy sauce? Use 3 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce plus 1 tablespoon water. 1 tablespoon of any fresh herb can be replaced with 1/2 teaspoon dried. None of these substitutes are perfect but they do in a pinch.

Some substitutions totally upset the cooking cart. Two cups corn syrup equals 1 cup granulated sugar, but be careful when substituting and never use it in baking.

Moses begged God for a substitute.

Exodus 4:10, 13-And Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, I am not eloquent or a man of words, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue. And he said, Oh, my Lord, I pray You, send by the hand of [some other] whom You will [send] (AMP).

Finally God gave up and let him have one.

Exodus 4:14-Then the anger of the Lord blazed against Moses; He said, Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know he can speak well. Also, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be overjoyed (AMP).

God always has a substitute available but like food stand-ins, they have their drawbacks.

Exodus 4:15-16- You must speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do. He shall speak for you to the people, acting as a mouthpiece for you, and you shall be as God to him (AMP).

And sometimes they are a hindrance. Aaron often disappointed both God and Moses, because he chose the voice of the people, over the voice of God. (See Exodus 32)

Prayer: Lord when you give us something to do, give us the grace to stand up to the task, not beg for a stand-in. In Christ’s name. Amen.