Cupped

A story a friend sent along this past week really got me thinking about the things I have whole heartedly pursued along my life road.  Through the years there were changes, growth, lessons to be learned and struggles that would realign my thinking as well as my activity.  Some of those experiences I welcomed and….. some I treated like an ugly bug crawling up my leg.  Freak–out!  Prayed like crazy!  See where your thoughts take you. 

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.  Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - Porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.   

 After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress." 

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other.  Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us." 

A pearl to string: In Matthew 6 we are encouraged to seek God first and our most important needs will be met.  In Proverbs 1 we are advised to acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair.  In 1 Corinthians 13 we learn that love never fails and it is the greatest of all God made characteristics.  I’ve learned that when my life is contained in the cupped hand of God I don’t spill out all over the floor. Learning to choose the right cup is joy.  

Sipping with Jesus,

              Lyndi