What kind of teacup are you?

I just started this book by Linda Dillow called Calm My Anxious Heart.  I am only on the second chapter but it is so good I wanted to write up a little excerpt from it to share with you.  If you are looking for a good book you should check it out.  If you look on Amazon it will give you a sample of the book from chapter 1.

Phil. 4:8  “Finally____(put your name)_____ whatever is untrue, whatever is noble, whatever is not right, whatever is impure, whatever is unlovely, whatever is not admirable-if there is anything that is not excellent or worthy of praise-think about such things.”  This translation of this verse is of someone with negative thinking.  If this is your vision about yourself you need to change and have an eternal perspective. 

According to Webster’s, the term “perspective” suggests “looking through; seeing clearly; the capacity to view things in their true relation of relative importance.”  I like to think of perspective as a way of seeing.  An eternal perspective, then  is God’s way of seeing.  When we have God’s perspective, we view our lives and evaluate what is important  from His viewpoint.  We need to fix our eyes on eternity.

“At all times, in all circumstances, Christ is able and willing to provide the strength we need to be content.  Contentment occurs when Christ’s strength is infused into my weak body, soul, and spirit.  To infuse means to pour, fill, soak, or extract.  Every morning when I dip my herbal tea bag into boiling water, I witness infusion. 

“How does God enable us to be content?  He infuses contentment into us through His Word.  As it seeps into our minds, it transforms us.  Just as a cup of tea gets stronger when we give it time to steep, so we become more content when we spend time in God’s Word and allow it to seep into our lives, transforming us to be like Him.”

Sometimes, we desire to trust God but because He seems to be slow in answering our requests we unconsciously decide to help God.  Like He needs our help!  

“God has lovingly assigned each of us to be a uniquely special teacup.  Perhaps we’re an antique cup, painted with dainty roses set in gold.  Maybe we see ourselves as an everyday cup-useful,, but a little chipped around the edges.  Or we could be a heavy-duty mug-rugged, unbreakable, and able to hold much. 

Then God fills our cup with our portion, what He determines best.  Our portion is our physical  and emotional being, our abilities, circumstances, roles, and relationships. 

Sometimes we don’t like what’s been poured into our cup.  Remember the Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane?  When He saw the suffering He was about to endure, He pleaded, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).  Christ grasped the handle of His cup and lifted it to God and said, “I accept my portion.  Infuse me with Your strength that I may drink.”

Every cup-whether dainty china or rough-hewn pottery-has a handle.  God has placed our portion in our cup.  We either choose to grasp it by the handle and lift it to Him, saying, “I accept my portion; I accept this cup,” or we choose to smash our cup to pieces, saying, “God, I refuse my portion.  This cup is not the right size for me and I don’t like what You’ve put in it.  I’ll control my life myself.”

You fail to make God your trust by default.  Your life is out of control, so you give up.  It’s impossible to make sense of life, beyond impossible to be content, so you give up and give in.  Most of us either try too hard or we quit trying.  In both cases, we miss God.  We miss His infusion of strength that leads to contentment.”