Lessons From A Cup of Coffee

Hello,

Let me share a recent lesson I learned while drinking coffee with you. Yes, you read that right; God can teach you lessons from every little thing in life.

I love my coffee, the aroma, the taste and the aftertaste. It's normal for me to start the day in the office with a cup of coffee. Since I moved to Calgary some years ago, I have even grown to love it more; it's part of the office culture here. As some jokingly say, Canadian working experience can only be considered completed when you know how to converse over coffee.

Some weeks ago, I prepared my coffee as usual, but this time, I did not just drink a cup of coffee; I learnt a lot from it. Do you want to know what I learnt? Read along. Nothing was different from my usual routine as I prepared the coffee with the same quantity of milk and sugar. The aroma was the same, but the first sip I had put me off; it was unusually bitter for a sugared coffee. What could have gone wrong, I added sugar, the same quantity as usual, but it tasted woeful. I felt like throwing it away and lost interest in it, but somehow I managed to stay on the drink if for nothing, not to waste it. As I continued to hang on and sipped the coffee, I suddenly felt a sweeter taste; I looked into the cup, and as I tilted it a bit, right at the bottom of the coffee were grains of sugar that had not dissolved in the coffee. Right then, I realized that I forgot to stir the sugar well into the mix, hence the bitter taste initially. I stirred the remaining blend up, and because the volume was smaller, it was much sweeter than I planned. And at that moment, I said to myself, " I nearly threw this cup of coffee away, but now I'm tasting the sweetest part of it."

As I meditate on that statement, this scripture dropped into my heart..."Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning, Psalm 30:5." Often, the events in our lives can be likened to my experience with the cup of coffee. We might think we got the mix right and expect everything to be good, but surprisingly and frustratingly, it's different than what we expected. You fell in love and got married to your dream partner, you expect everything to be fine, but the reality is contrary to what you expected; you have found no joy in the marriage. You got a good job and expected to climb up in your chosen career but seem stuck in a position. You went into business, you have done your feasibility study so well, everything appears to align with the plan, and you set off. Midstream into your endeavour, the government introduced a policy change that upset everything about the enterprise; everything went down. You just relocated to another country and expected things to work out well for you. You have high hopes and expectations and have told a good tale of how this new world will be to your immediate family. However, contrary to your expectations, everything that could be wrong was wrong, no job, no shelter, and what have you?

Dear Reader, the experiences I have described above can be likened to my first taste of the coffee above. I nearly threw it out, I did not enjoy it, but I kept at it. If I had thrown it out, I wouldn't have tasted the sweetest part of it. In the same vein, the experiences you are going through may not be the sweetest currently. Things may not have worked as planned; don't give up. Your marriage may not be the best you imagined; don't jump out. Like my experience with the coffee, you may have thought you had the right mix, but something could be missing. If only you could just hold on, this time, wait on no man but God; he will give you the right mix. The songwriter wrote, "don't give up on God, for he won't give up on you, he is able." Your tomorrow will be alright in JESUS' name. Amen.

I pray for somebody having challenges in marriage; the Lord will add joy to your home. Are you challenged in your career? The Lord will begin a new thing in your life. The promotion withheld for a long time shall be released. Are you having problems with your family members? God will sort it out. Are you facing challenges settling down in a new environment? The Lord will open doors unto you. As he blessed Isaac in a strange land, the Lord will give you your own Rehoboth (Gen 26: 22), and you shall be fruitful in the land.

As I close this write-up, let me tell you it is one thing to have the mixture; it is another to have the right mix. As with the cup of coffee, the mixture that will get you to where you should contain, Faith, Prayer, Patience. Do you have faith in him? Do you pray enough? Then, have patience because the Lord will come through for you. I leave you with the word of the scripture that says.
Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Shalom,

Pastor Toks Balogun