I orginally wrote this on February 17, 2008.  I thought it goes well with many of my thoughts lately.  I’m sure my wife will be excited to see this.  And no she is not making me coffee tonight.

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It’s amazing how a cup of coffee can change everything.  I’m sitting here running through my thoughts.  With some frustration trying to get them down.  All the while, Lori is making me a cup of coffee. 

Here I am starting to get a little hungry too.  I fight off the hunger to finish my thoughts for the morning.  But the desire for that cup of coffee is raging.  So here I am in my “Big Chair” ready to take in that first hot sip of coffee for the day and then it happens.  Lori is walking over here with what she thinks is my favorite cup.  As she walks over with my cup the waves begin to build within the rim of the cup.  The cup is able to keep every drop contained. 

Lori has made it to the table by the “Big Chair” and carefully places the cup of coffee on my Oswald Chambers devotional.  That’s all good with the exception that the foundation for which she chose to sit the cup of coffee was not very stable.  The only problem with this scenario is that the book was hanging half way off the table.  I could see everything happening right before my eyes but once again I am stuck in a moment I can’t get out of.  All I could do was watch in silence the disaster unfold.  The cup went crashing down to the floor along with the devotional.  Coffee everywhere!  And the cup?  Well, it’s now in the trash in numerous pieces.

So what happened next is priceless.  We both sprung into action to clean up the mess as it was a big cup of coffee.  The coffee was all in the carpet…

I could go on with this little story but the point has already been made. 

God has a plan for our lives.  He has a beautiful and glorious plan.  A plan that brings glory and honor to Himself. 

I’ve lived my life with one thing in mind “pleasing God.”  Now there have been times in my life when plans have changed.  Or things have happened because I allowed them into my life.  Things that were not pleasing to God. 

Things happen.  Cups of coffee spill.  So what does one do?  Clean it up.  God does.  With grace, love, and correction He steps in with a towel and cleans up the mess.  Now sometimes the spill will leave a stain as a reminder of what has happened in the past.  But that stain is a benchmark for us to build from. 

Hebrews 11:6 states, “It’s impossible to please God apart from faith.  And why?  Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.” (The Message).

I love chapter 11 of Hebrews.  It’s a powerful chapter of men and women who have chosen above all else to please God.  This desire to live a pleasing life to God has seen some never taste death and it has seen some die horrible deaths. 

Where do we fit in?  We all have a mission in life.  A place to contribute.  For each of us it is different.  I know what I desire to do in service to God.  But there has been some spilled coffee.  There has been something that has happened that needs to be cleaned up.  So I’m patiently waiting as God cleans up the mess.  I’m waiting for the cup to be mended.  He can do it.

Hebrews 11 ends with you and I in mind.  Ends with our mission in life written out in those last couple of verses. “God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.” (The Message).

The next time the coffee is brewing and Lori is pouring I’ll be wearing my rain coat.