My Cup Runneth Over

This is rather a bold title, and you might get the impression that the writer has it all together, life is rosy and easy going. Well, that is not entirely the truth humanly speaking, but I have learned along life’s bumpy road that having a full cup doesn’t have everything to do with how smooth life is going at any particular time.

Have you noticed that some people have everything they could ever wish for, but are miserable individuals. The sun shines warm on them, they have plenty of ‘creature comforts’, and enjoy relatively good health, but something is missing!

Others may not be so fortunate and although they go through long dark valleys of separation and suffering, they seem to be the most content and grateful people, wearing a character of serenity and beauty. What they have is something we would love to have as well. But what is it?

Well, this is certainly does not originate in human character, because we would be prone to grumble, get angered, or bear grudges. The kind of contentment in the midst of a battle or in a time of sadness comes from God alone. And the kind of contentment that emulates from the life of someone walking with God is beautiful in all circumstances, in good times and bad ones.

And as already stated, this is not necessarily the result of favourable circumstances or even dependant upon them! A full to overflowing cup contains something of far greater value than anything tangible. This is a gift from God who knows how to give perfect gifts to His people.

Let us take a brief look at some examples that are easily overlooked in our busy lives.

🔸 We only have to look up into the sky at night and see a multitude of stars, or that’s what they appear to be from our point of view. But zoom in and take a closer look and we will find that most of those specks of light are constellations light years away. The vastness of space and the endless beauty in it’s magnitude is beyond comprehension.

🔸 Let’s come back to earth and take a closer look at the sand on our shores. Every one of those tiny particles is a gem in itself. Etched and shaped into a thing of beauty reflecting colours and brightness easily to be overlooked. Every one of them is a treasure, and so many of them they are beyond counting!

🔸 And when the season grows cold and the earth is covered in a white blanket of snow, perhaps we forget that a closer look again will bring delight to see that every snow flake is an individual treasure; no two are alike! We trample them underfoot without a second thought.

🔸 Then in the autumn there is a spectacular array of colour as the leaves fall from the trees colouring our pathways with golden and red hues. How wonderful it is on those dry days find places where you can walk knee deep through them! Every one of those leaves are a thing of beauty as if the Master Artist hand painted each one! How unfortunate it is that we barely notice them while they are still beautiful and before we know it they have disintegrated back into the earth.

Such are some of the wonders of God and evidences of His immeasurable blessing and extravagant generosity …

This is God in His infinite goodness reaching out to mankind wooing people to Himself who sincerely want to know more. Oh, believe me, there is so much more to Him than those excessive tangible things that we just considered. How about delving some some godlike and spiritual characteristics to further deepen our appreciation of such a God as He?

Firstly He who is eternal: “from everlasting to everlasting”, Psalm 90: 2, has thoughts toward us that are: “without number”, Psalm 40: 5, and wants us: “to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3: 19.

Let us consider the love of God for unworthies like ourselves:

The above verse doesn’t just tell us that ‘God loved the world …’ but: ‘He so loved the world ..’ There was no love like His! It tells of the measure of His love and the object of His love. And when we muse upon these two immense things we get to appreciate that His love was not just great, but SO great indeed!

Every individual that was ever born into this world was so loved by God Himself, and He felt that each one was worth paying the price to save them from perishing and bring eternal life in its place.

Sin has been the blight of the human race incarcerating everyone in bonds of separation from being in union with Him. But the Lord Jesus came to undo the damage that sin has done.

The Lord Jesus said:

The Lord told us that the enemy of our souls goes to great lengths to ruin everything He has done in order that you might know freely His eternal blessing in your life: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy …”

But Jesus continues: “… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10: 10.

Oh, what a precious Gift He is indeed! Those who have believed in Him to the saving of their soul have had their sins dealt with forever. We no longer have to live in the fear of what our sin deserves because the Lord Jesus bore the wrath of God against our sin as our Substitute. And the power of sin no longer has the ability to separate us from Him ... forever!.

When our sin has been removed in such a manner, there remains a joy in our hearts that cannot be put to words because we know that we do not deserve that type of love and tender mercy. Even though we cannot see the One who has saved us by His grace, knowing Him through faith is enough.

How could our hearts not overflow with thanksgiving for such an indescribable gift as He? (See 2 Corinthians 9: 15.)

But the uncountable blessings continue as we walk in faith and grow in appreciation of our beloved Lord and Saviour. His word comes to life each time we open our Bible and read, and soon we discover a multitude of: “exceeding great and precious promises”, to meet us right where we are. (See 2 Peter 1: 4.)

Then there are those times when life would overwhelm us if we did not have our beloved Lord to turn to for solace and guidance.

It appears that we have been loved more than we would ever deserve, and blessed beyond measure just by responding favourably to such love and tender mercy. But how could we not be deeply moved at such extravagance in favour to ourselves who were estranged from God and helpless in such a state?

Truly … “We love Him, because He first loved us.” I John 4: 19

All we can do is stand in awe of His greatness, and wonder in the depths of our inmost being at His unfathomable ways, and express along with the Apostle who wrote:

When God invites us to come as we are to Him with our emptiness and unworthiness, I think that we can then begin to understand how it is possible even in the midst of difficult circumstances to say like the Psalmist David: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Psalm 23: 5