Spilled Coffee

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I walked into the kitchen this morning, feeling good about the fact that I had gotten up when my alarm rang the first time. I was going to have an extra amount of time to sit and enjoy the peace and quiet, which tells you I have been hitting the snooze button way too many times lately. 

The first thing I noticed was this brown puddle on the floor. What in the world? Did Dave dump his coffee? But he wouldn't just walk away and leave the mess if he did. No, his coffee mug was still in the drainer. So what happened? Ahh, there I see it, the coffee pot is sitting there by itself away from the coffee maker. Hmm, it did a very bad job of catching the coffee this morning and our coffee maker is smart enough to tell me it won't run if I didn't empty the grounds out of the basket, but it's not smart enough to figure out the coffee pot isn't where it belongs? That's a problem and it created a very big problem this morning. 

So instead of sitting in my chair enjoying a fresh, hot cup of coffee, I got to mop our floor, wipe out the cupboards underneath the coffee maker and clean up the counter on which it sat. Then I got to make another pot of coffee, this time with the coffee pot securely in place. And finally, I got to sit down and enjoy my hot cup of coffee.

While I was cleaning up the mess, I had to think there has to be a life lesson in here somewhere. Surely I don't have to clean up coffee and not learn something profound from it. So here's what I gleaned: as a child of God, I am to sit under the Word and be filled with Christ's presence, with His joy, with His wisdom, with His Spirit, and with everything that Christ wants to give me. When I am filled with Christ, then I can be poured out to others and point them to Christ. I can be that full coffee pot filled with hot coffee or with God's Word living through me that can then be poured out to fill others. But if I am caught up in other things and neglect my responsibilities, neglect being filled with the Spirit, then chaos ensues.

This has proven to be so true in my own life lately. I continue to be amazed at the way the Holy Spirit can use me when I seek for His guidance. I also continue to be amazed at my inability to remember this and how easily I can be frustrated and annoyed by the normal day-to-day things of life. I have watched how God can change my attitude toward my children's fighting and it makes so much difference in the day. I can respond in kindness and encouragement over the positives when I am looking for that instead of being bogged down in the fighting and grumbling and whining. 

So while I wouldn't choose to spend my morning cleaning up coffee, I do want to remember that I am like that coffee pot and I need to be in the correct place, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and being filled with His Spirit. Only then am I able to pour out on others in a life-giving way. 

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