what’s in your cup?
What have you been given in life? What fills you up? What satisfies you?
There is plenty in this world that we could pursue to find satisfaction, many things we could say are good. There are also many corruptible things that we dip our cup into. But truly, there is only One that fills us up to overflowing.
Christ, the Lord.
One morning during reading time with my kids, I wanted to explain this truth to them. I love how the Lord meets me when I teach my children. I don’t have a plan other than what we are reading, and I ask God to lead the conversation. On that particular morning, my kids were having their cup of cocoa and I had my coffee. God provided the visual right away.
What’s in your cup?
Your cup is your expectation in life to be satisfied. You can fill it with many things, both good and bad. Friends, family, hobbies, addictions … work, success, money … beauty, fame … knowledge, ministry, church … cave diving, shoe shopping … oh this list could go on and on! Everything under the sun.
And even when we fill our cup with things that we describe as good, our cup will never be full. One sip and we’re empty again. Going from well-to-well as we try to fill ourselves up, but nothing and no one can fully satisfy our need. No husband or wife. Not children. Not good deeds or success or money. Nothing. Nada.
But … the Lord!
He is so good, so perfect, so satisfying, so abundant and overflowing! He alone is enough. Your husband is not enough. Your kids are not enough. Church isn’t enough. Ministry is not enough. You get the idea. The illustration for my kids is that friends are not enough. Crafts, Legos, video games, sports, movies … none of it is enough!
But when we fill ourselves with Christ first, then every good thing is a provided blessing we can enjoy without expecting it to fully satisfy our life—because none of it will. When all of these wonderful things fall in line as the good and perfect gifts that they are (not the idols we often make them) it compels us to do nothing but praise Him for it all.
When we choose to draw near and be filled with Him, our lives become a cup runneth over. We are satisfied and then some. HE is a fount abundantly overflowing.
And … the Lord!
Even as we drink from our cup filled with Christ, it never runs out. Our cup is never empty. Christ is never diminished. Christ is never insufficient or deficient.
He is exceeding. He is bounteous. He is abundant. He is unending. An eternal fount that never runs dry. When we draw near to Him, our cup is always filled to the brim!
So for my kids, for you, for me, I say taste and see that the Lord is good! Always, each and every day—each and every moment—He is good. In all seasons. In all storms. He is our portion.
Satisfying and always enough.
* * *
Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon the earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. – Psalm 73:25-26
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them to drink from the river of Your pleasures. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. – Psalm 36:8-9
1 comments
Maria W. | July 14, 2022
Andrea, What a wonderfully and beautifully-written illustration on the actualities of how we live life, and how Christ should always be our portion in and through it all. God alone knows what we need and when we need it and through your precious words, He brought peace to this anxious heart. I am truly blessed and filled today because you chose to pour out of your cup into ours. Thank you, and bless you.
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