My (Coffee) Cup Overflows

I enjoy a nice cup of coffee like the next gal. Hot, iced, you name it, as long as it has a little cream and sugar and and maybe a gallon of caramel flavoring...I'm good.

What's even nicer is sharing a cup of coffee with a friend. I enjoy having my emotional cup filled by the words and encouragement from a good, trusted, Christian friend over a warm cup of flavored goodness. When I'm having problems, feeling emotional or lonely or just need someone to talk to, nothing beats a good friend and a good cup of coffee...that is until the next time that I feel lonely or empty. It never seems to last, I always feel empty again, just like that cup of coffee I have finished off. Just like the caffeine rush, that good feeling is going to ware off and I'm going to crash again.

Whether it be friends, family, work, sports, or shopping, or any other thing that this life has to offer they will fall short and leave me feeling depleted and unsatisfied. So, I have to determine what will truly fill me up and last, without needing a constant refill.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't think there is anything wrong with having a good, trusted friend to talk to and heaven forbid that I say there is anything wrong with filling your coffee cup to the brim and drinking it until there is nothing left. I truly believe that God blesses us with good friends and heavenly grounds of coffee. I think that God gives us people in our lives to "build us up," as His word says. But they can't be our main source of fulfillment. I need something that will sustain me mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually through this life.

My main source needs to be drawn from the same well that Jesus offered to the Samaritan Woman in John 4:13-14. Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Talk about a cup that overflows with blessings. David knew about this cup in Psalm 23 when he said that his cup overflowed with blessings and that God was preparing a feast for Him in the presence of His enemies. He knew who buttered His bread. He gave the credit to God for His blessings and was fulfilled by that.

I think when it comes to being fulfilled we need to know from whom we receive our portion. Lamentations says, that the Lord is my portion and to hope in Him. The portion He offers is enough to fill my cup and fill my empty soul.

MY soul, MY strength and MY heart may fail, but GOD is my strength and my portion forever. I emphasize MY because I can't do it on my own. I need God's continual guidance and strength. I need to remind myself the source from whom all blessings flow. Psalm 16:5 says that the Lord is MY portion and MY cup. That's the cup that I want to be drinking from.

When I'm trying to fill my soul with empty things of this life, it may satisfy for a little while, but always ends up empty again and leaves me searching for my refill. It's like staring at the bottom of my empty cup and looking for the someone else to refill it, but inevitably it will end up empty again.

I need the portion that will always satisfy and leave my cup full and overflowing. Psalm 107:9 says that God satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

If some days you feel like a plant in need of water look to the Lord because His word says, The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

So, I think we've established that an empty heart and soul are not good things. We need something substantial to truly and completely fill us and not ever leave us empty.

I think Samuel had this figured out many years ago when he told God's people in 1 Samuel 12:20-22 to "not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside to empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty...only serve the Lord and fear Him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things He has done for you."

I want to consider all the great things he has done for me to find my portion in Him and then I will see how my cup truly overflows with His blessings. If you're looking for something substantial in an unstable world, look to God, the ever flowing source of life. Today decide to take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord (Psalm 116:13) and remind your soul that the Lord is your portion and your cup. I'll take an extra large cup of that to go, please.