Devotionals

The Bakers Hands

by Amelia Avila
06/29/26
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(Psalm 139)

Recently, I listened to a sourdough class discussing the importance of getting to know your dough throughout the process. Sourdough can be more unpredictable than a yeasted dough, beginning with maintaining a healthy starter. A weak or acidic starter produces bread that doesn’t rise properly, resulting in a gummy, chewy hockey puck. A healthy starter is the most important foundation for beautiful artisan breads. And if a starter becomes weak or acidic, it isn’t hopeless - it simply needs extra TLC to restore it to health.

Proper fermentation is another essential aspect. Underfermented bread is dense, with a thick crust and unpleasant mouthfeel. Overfermenting isn’t quite as bad, but produces a loaf that lacks the oven spring of a perfectly fermented loaf. This is where the expert baker can tell by the appearance, feel, and smell of the dough, whether it is ready to knead, ready to shape, ready to bake. He “knows the dough.” 

The process begins with combining the ingredients, then developing the gluten and building structure. With his hands in the dough, the baker feels the wet, sticky mass begin to yield its resistance, in response to his working it, done in increments of kneading and resting the dough. Because he knows the dough so well, he understands when it needs to rest before continuing, so the gluten strands are not torn in the process. As the dough changes, it becomes structurally stronger, yet beautifully pliable and silky smooth, with a satin sheen. 

Then begins the quiet work of fermentation. The dough rests, undisturbed in a warm place, until it becomes a bubbly, jiggly, stretchy blob, ready to become what it was created to be. The baker shapes it, places it in a banneton, and lets it rest until it is ready to be baked. 

In the same way, the Father’s strong and gentle hands continue working in our lives, until we become who He created us to be. There are times when He works on bringing the starter back to health, back to square one. Other times, he is kneading out resistance, allowing periods of rest in between the stretching so we are not broken in the process. Even during resting, gluten continues developing. Little by little, we become more pliable in His hands, until we have become the beautiful bread that He created us to be.

I need Jesus, and Jesus kneads me…