Life is Like a Cup of Coffee

As believers, our reaction to crisis reveals our heart toward God.

~Andrena Sawyer

To many of us, a cup of coffee (or two or three) in the morning is what jump starts our day. Health matters aside, it’s the “gold standard” of the “get up, get moving, get going” process many of us think we need as we begin our days. While some of us can’t imagine starting the day without coffee, others can’t imagine starting the day with it. It’s a matter of personal choice. Likewise, life itself is a matter of many choices.

Imagine that you’re holding that cup of coffee (yeah, for this segment, I’m just going to assume all you readers are coffee junkies) and someone bumps into you, causing the liquid to spill. Why did the coffee spill? It spilled because it was what was in your cup when you were bumped.

In life, we’re that cup. When life happens, as it always does, and we get bumped, whatever is inside the “us” cup is going to spill out in some way. When we experience the little bumps, we are usually adept at taking it and faking it gracefully. However, when it’s a hard bump, we get rattled. We’ve got to know how to handle what’s in our cup. When we get those hard bumps, will joy, gratefulness, peace, and humility spill out? Or do harsh words, bad reactions, anger, and bitterness pour out? What spills out is an indication of how the heart acts as a lid on our emotional cups. When it senses harsh or hateful responses to whatever the situation, it needs to stay on tightly to deter the negatives from spilling out. But when it senses gratitude, joy, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, affirming words, and unconditional love for others—not always easy—it is happy to get flipped off the cup in order to allow myriad goodness to spill out.

About Me: Perhaps one of the most difficult battles I have faced over the years is changing what spills out of my cup when life bumps me. I know how terrible and sinful my spillage can be. I am so grateful that my spiritual journey has brought me to the point that when spillage happens and I feel my response will come out in a very bad way, I can’t just let it pass. I acknowledge that I just messed up and that I need to address it properly right then and there. I enjoy that little bit of progress.

What About You:  When your cup spills, do you later find yourself lamenting your reaction?  When it spills, consider the effect that what pours out will have on those around you. The more you practice, the better those spills to come will be.

Encouraging Words: Psalm 139:23

You will come across obstacles in life—fair and unfair. And you will discover,

time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are

but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.

You will learn that this reaction determines how successful we will be in overcoming—

or possibly thriving because of—them.

~Ryan Holiday