Coffee Beans and an Empty Cup

This morning when I woke up I stumbled to the coffee pot in my half awake half asleep slumber to make my first pot of coffee to get me going. I sat in the chair and waited for it to perk. A few minutes later I went out to pour my first cup. To my surprise no coffee was waiting for me. At that point I realized, I forgot to add the water. I had ground my fresh coffee beans, placed them in the filter and turned the pot on, but with no water, no coffee could be made.

If you haven't noticed, my blog posts have been few and far between. It isn't that I have not wanted to write, but I haven't really felt like I had anything to write about.

This morning as I thought about the coffee I tried to make without the water, I started to think about my writing. How am I supposed to write about God if I am not adding His Word.

Before I sat down with my Bible this morning, it had been a week since I sat down with the intention of studying His Word.

It has been snowing this week and it has been cold and dark outside. On top of the dreary weather, I have been sick with a terrible cold. As I have been looking out the window wondering where the beautiful fall weather disappeared to, I have been looking at my heart and attitude.

I opened my Bible to the book of James with the intention of reading the book through in one sitting. God had a different plan. I didn't get passed the first few verses.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

I went to the dictionary to read the definition of the word persevere: to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement.

These verses say that "Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete." It would be great to think that I will face one trial, persevere and be mature and complete after that one instance and not have to endure any more trials. However, when I look at the definition of persevere I realize that my life is full of counterinfluences, opposition and discouragement and I am far from mature and complete.

God has given me a choice. I can let the darkness of the world engulf me or I can be a light shining in the darkness. I know I am going to have days that I don't feel like persevering. I am going to have days that I want to let the opposition win. But I need to remember that the end of the story has already been written and in the end God Wins.