A Cup Too Small - Cathy Joy Hill

Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Matthew 6:25 NIV

Maybe we’ve been given a cup too small.

I heard her behind me as I walked along the lake in Chicago. A young woman discussed going to New York to find her “perfect job.” Strolling in arguably one of the greatest cities in the world, where opportunities wait on every square block, she was dissatisfied and searching.

I would have turned around and scolded her if I had not once been her. I remember seeking perfection. My oldest son is busy now with the same pursuit, and my youngest son is also—the latter, the perfect grad school, the younger, the perfect role in the musical.

Is it because God formed us by perfection that we desire it so? We search long and hard for something we don’t yet have—fame, wealth, love, happiness, contentment, understanding, excitement, forgiveness, relationship. We always need one more thing, one more minute, one more day.

I am eternally grateful to look back and still have time to look forward. I tell my sons that what looks like failure is God-directed. And what feels like success is simply a steppingstone.

Perfect contentment, love, trust, and friendship are reserved for one relationship. That one that stole our heart at conception and keeps it under His watchful eye. God waits for us to find Him. He seeks us so gently we don’t even know He is there. After finding Him, we chase to go faster and farther and taller and better. But the best position we can hold is bent over in service or on our knees in prayer.

Our frustration over failure is replaced by the exultation of a grand director who gently leads with the whisper of angels and the tug of the intangible.

These touches from Him reverse and inverse everything we value. We realize the greatest is the least, the smallest is exceptional, and the cup that seemed so small only needs pouring out to grow.

The pressure to do, be, and have is replaced by the posture of grace. All grace. The breath, the life, the suffering. All grace to be a part of this grand prelude to the glorious finish.

I tell my sons to enjoy the ride because the finish line is incredibly worth it. Stay on the path, see the view, watch God work, and listen hard. I want to see God’s hand stamped all over the passport of my heart. Blessed indeed is the one who stops seeking and realizes what they have found.

Is your cup too small?

Tweetable: Is your God-cup too small?  

Cathy is a writer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She met her husband Brian while studying in Paris, France. They make their home in Geneva, IL, with their four children and their daughter-in-love. She loves writing about the wonder and whimsy of life and her love for Jesus. Her first book is Destination: Fierce, Moving from Fear to Fierce. Learn more about Cathy at www.cathyjoyhill.com.

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