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The difficulties of life are challenging. Each of us experiences our own unique challenges each day. The choice of how we respond is our own, and only ours to make each moment of each day. Will we receive what has been given us (even if it is not what we would have chosen for ourselves)? Or will we reject it, and go about our day working and striving to “receive” a better cup, one of our own making?
Life is to be celebrated and not conquered and fixed. It is in the “accepting” that we can come to that place of celebration, celebrating it all, the good with the bad, understanding that ALL is a gift. Never in striving or rejecting are we capable of accepting or giving thanks. A heart that is made hard cannot fully embrace and celebrate all of life, especially the challenges.
Not long ago a friend of mine asked me about a cup she could not find. She was staying with us and it had turned up missing. I told her I had not seen it but would keep my eyes open for it. Not once but twice again she inquired about the cup. I promised I would ask my family if they had perhaps seen it. They had not. It was a small clear plastic cup that you frequently see at various stores, nothing fancy or expensive. However, it had become clear to me that it was important to her. I felt bad that it had turned up missing and wondered if perhaps one of us had misplaced it after all? So I decided to get her a new cup.
Unfortunately the store I went to did not have the exact cup so I chose another one to give her; one that was larger and more brilliant in color, but I did not pay much for the gift.
When I approached her with it I could see that she felt bad that I had bought her a new cup. I could see the guilt in her eyes as she said it was not necessary and that she had not asked about it for that reason. She refused to take the cup. I explained it was a gift and she need not feel bad because it was not expensive. I told her it would bless me to bless her. I insisted she take it and handed it to her little son.
Not long afterward I received a text from her saying she would not accept it and I needed to take it back. I was angry and hurt. I ranted to my husband who couldn’t understand why I was so upset over an inexpensive cup. “It’s just a cup,” he said. But it was so much more than that. It was the refusal of a peace offering, a gift from the heart.
A few days later as I sat alone I began to complain to the Lord. I went on and on about one thing or another, clearly recognizing my grumbling quota for that day had been more than met. Still I continued on. In between breaths, I could almost hear him say, “Why do you refuse my cup?”
A pang hit my stomach. Just as my friend had refused my cup, I also had refused his cup. How many cups has the Lord given me each day that I refuse to take or acknowledge? When life did not line up with my perfect plan, how many cups have I tossed back at him with one excuse or another?
When Jesus was getting ready to be crucified he called out to God, the Father, and in his own humanity he asked if the cup of suffering which he was about to receive could be taken from him. But he quickly added to that, “Not my will, but yours Father.” It was because of the cup that Jesus embraced that we can fully live, truly celebrate life. Unlike my inexpensive cup, his cost him everything.
He received all and he gave all. Who am I to not receive the cup set before me?
Each moment is be received, embraced; the good and the bad. When we can come to that place of gratitude then we truly live.
Life is to be celebrated not conquered and fixed. Gratitude and acceptance is the path to the Father’s hand.
Won’t you accept this cup?
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