The Cup

I started reading a new book. Well it's not really new...I've read it once before & I remember really enjoying it so I thought I would read it again. It is called., "Tender Mercy for a Mother's Soul" by Angela Thomas Guffey.

This morning as I was reading, she was talking about how one morning she was really organized. By 9am she was dressed, finished preparing sauce for dinner, had all the wash completed, and all the kids ready for preschool. She was quite proud of herself & shared her accomplishments to her husband. His response, "That's great", then gave her a kiss and left for work. She was discouraged that she did not receive the response from him that she wanted.

A friend soon called, and after many tears, he told her to go get a cup & fill it up with water. She did this as he explained...

"You are the cup, Jesus is the water".

"Is anything else in the cup?"

"No"

"Now fill the cup all the way so that it overflows...What is the water doing?"

"Spilling all over everything".

Then she said to her friend as she realized the point to his illustration,

"Only Jesus can fill me completely, and when I am full of Jesus, I am overflowing, spilling onto everyone around me".

Yes...I get it. So often I expect others to fulfill me with praise, encouragement, kind words...and many times feel let down when I don't receive them...the way I expect it. When I am hurt or upset by someone's comments to me or lack of them, I realize it is not about them & what they are doing or not doing. It is about me expecting them to fill my cup. Lord, only you can fill me to overflowing! Not mere praise from men...not the latest spring outfit or cute shoes and certainly not a 2-car garage and master bathroom!

"And to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Ephesians 3:19