A couple of weeks ago I was walking through the crowed foyer at church. I had just gotten a fresh cup of coffee and was walking across the room when some joker bumped right into me. He must have been moving with some urgency because he ran into me with a force that shot my hot coffee all over my hand, then onto the floor.
This situation reminded me of an old analogy about why I spilled the coffee.
Why did I spill the coffee? You may say, “It’s because that guy bumped into you, dummy.” But really that’s not the accurate answer.
I spilled the coffee because there was coffee in my cup. If my cup was full of beer (maybe not at church), I would have spilled beer. If it was full of water, I would have spilled water. Whatever is in the cup is what will spill out.
This wise old lesson is so true of our lives. When the trials and difficulties of life run into you, which they eventually will, whatever is in you is what will come out.
So, what’s in your cup? When things get challenging what spills out? When people test your patience what comes out? When you face a conflict, obstacle,trial, hardship, or suffering…what’s in your cup?
Are you passive or do you give up quickly? Or are you responsible, responsive,and resilient?
Do you get angry or bitter? Or are you patient and forgiving?
Do you complain, blame, and point fingers? Or do you focus on solutions, take responsibility and practice accountably?
What’s in your cup? I think Jesus Christ said it best himself, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” Matthew 12:34-35
God has given each of us a cup, a capacity in life, and we have an opportunity and responsibility to fill it properly.
We would be wise to fill our cups with thankfulness, forgiveness, joy, courage, resilience, kindness, and love.
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