A Lesson from My Coffee Cup

The other morning I was up early, really early for me.  I was very tired and knew I needed copious amounts of my delicious morning elixir.  I filled my pink travel coffee mug, screwed the lid on and somewhat blindly headed out the door.  I sipped and sipped from my cup and just kept feeling as if I wasn’t getting any caffeine into my still sleeping system. Then I looked more closely at my mug.  I was sipping from a closed lid!

That morning I had been reading a story about a guy in the Bible named Stephen. He had been doing some really cool miracles among the people and somebody got their panties in a wad. Rumors were spread about Stephen behind his back, and he ended up in front of all the local religious bigwigs defending himself. Stephen gives them a history lesson, covering events that they knew inside and out. Then he says, “You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did!” (Acts, chapter 7, verse 51, New English Translation)

At that moment, when I realized I was trying to get coffee through a closed lid on my travel mug, God spoke to my heart. I was being a little like the guys Stephen confronted.  I had plenty of coffee, but it was closed off to me. God, ever so gently, pointed out to me that I was holding Him at arm’s length in some areas of my life.  I had plenty of power, hope and wisdom available to me, but I was closed to some things the Holy Spirit wanted to do in my life.  I was not allowing the Holy Spirit to flow freely into my life, giving me the “umph” that I wanted and needed.  I was choosing to be selfish, to do only what I wanted to do, or doing things in my own sweet time.

I fixed my travel mug problem, and God fixed my heart problem.  God is good like that.  It’s tough sometimes to do what God wants me to do.  The awesome thing about being in a relationship with the guy who created the whole world is He can do anything. He is teaching me, leading me and empowering me to be who He created me to be from the start:  A Princess of the King of Kings. Sipping my coffee is delicious and comforting.  Drinking in the Holy Spirit is the ultimate refresher and energizer.