The Only Way to Spill Your Coffee

Have you seen the cup and saucer thing on social media about drinking from the saucer? It’s a nice, nostalgic, feel-good story about choosing to remember God’s abundance in our lives. I’ve seen it several times now, and it always makes me smile and whisper a “thank you, Lord,” because it reminds me of Grandma Schmitzer and her teacups and a myriad of other memories that bring me delight. It also whispers to my heart about God’s goodness, which has been poured over my life without measure.

If you missed my recent post about Fabricating Joy When Life Stinks, I would urge you to go back and read it this morning.

A friend spoke the-word-I-haven’t-come-to-terms-with-yet (joy) to me yesterday, so I decided to begin today with the tangible things where God has allowed me to find joy in this life: My husband, the Psalms, a candle, coffee in my Royal Imperial Everlasting Rose teacup, and Amy’ Grant’s A Christmas Album (circa 1983 – the only album I own on vinyl, cassette, CD, and mp3).

That it’s snowing and blowing “Lake Enhanced” this morning is simply a bonus.

The 23^rd Psalm is not one of my favorites, but I’ve been searching the Psalms for instances of a particular imagery, and 23 made the list, so I was reading it again this morning – and I smiled at the reminder – my cup overflows.

As something of an act of faith, when I poured my coffee, I filled my cup to the tippity-top. I hadn’t taken one step toward the table before my coffee came lurching over the faded golden brim like Superior gales over the breakwall. By the time I sat, my cup had, indeed, overflowed. (Overflowed? Overflew? Overflowen? Overflown? There’s gotta be a better way to say that.)

It was a nice reminder, and I smiled long enough to snap a photo – but I confess, I was quick to clean up my mess and sip the coffee down to a non-spillable level. The mess, the spill – felt like chaos, like noise. It didn’t feel like joy.

Safely leveled coffee in hand, I returned to the 23^rd Psalm, and I did the thing that I do – I went in search of one thing – and God did the thing that He does – He brought me to something else.  

The Hebrew word כּוֹס is translated as “cup” in this verse. And there’s nothing particularly amazing about the word, but I stumbled all over it this morning:

כּוֹס kôwç, koce; from an unused root meaning to hold together; a cup (as a container), often figuratively, a lot (as if a potion); also some unclean bird, probably an owl (perhaps from the cup-like cavity of its eye):—cup, (small) owl. Compare H3599.

H3563 – kôs – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (esv) (blueletterbible.org)

To hold together.

How many times in my life have I whispered, “keep it together, Sar,”?

How many times in my life have I buried everything inside of me, unwilling for anyone to see my struggles and insecurities?

How many times in my life have I carried the shattering weight (unnecessarily) of trying to carry things for which I was not intended?

Is there a freedom in realizing that I am not created to hold it all together?

Is there a joy in releasing what isn’t mine to carry?

Is there a reprieve in relinquishing burdens that crush me?

Look at the next word – overflows:

רְוָיָה noun feminine saturation (LagBN 51, 150); — absolute כּוֺסִי ר׳ Psalm 23:5 (figurative), i.e. is well-filled Ges§ 141 c; in general לָר׳ Psalm 66:12, but Vrss and most modern לָֽרְוָחָה to (a place of) relief.

H7310 – rᵊvāyâ – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (esv) (blueletterbible.org)

Relief.

Relief.

Stop trying to hold it all together, Friends.

Stop trying to hold it all together, Self.

Let all of those things that are destroying us… go. Just let them go. Stop filling ourselves with them. Stop cramming them into a space where they don’t belong.

Let’s allow Christ to fill us anew with His Spirit, His Life, His Purposes. That is a weight that doesn’t destroy us; it renews and relieves – both us and those around us.

And that is the best way to spill your coffee.