I went back and forth about if I should post about giving up coffee for lent. Mainly because of the whole part in the bible where Jesus says not to talk about it. However, it’s a key part to what I’m learning and I want to share where I really am. Not so I get extra holy points, though I’ll take some if you have extra, but so I can share what God is doing in my life and hopefully lend some encouragement.
Aside from the first week of detoxing from caffeine, giving up coffee has been hard. Coffee is tied into so many of my routines and relationships. One of the things I’ve missed most about home is drinking coffee with my mom while she would speak truths that I would stir into my cup. It’s one of the things we share. I’ve formed friendships based on being “one of those coffee people.” It’s been hard to trust the Lord in giving up a good thing.
I’ve been reading Donald Miller’s book a Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He tells as story about how he hiked the Inca Trail to see the city of Machu Picchu. It takes four days to hike and it’s incredibly difficult. There’s a bus that can get you to the same spot after you hike a mile in. However, Miller talks about how the city was more beautiful to the people who hiked the Inca Trail because of the pain it took to get there.
I think that’s what the Lord is teaching me right now. I’ve been asking for a better story and I think sometimes that means going through something hard to get it. I think Jesus knew that too.
Tim Keller said this about Jesus finding joy in sorrow:
“Look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you. In other words, you are finally emotionally healthy.”
I could have a cup of coffee right now and I would like it. But I don’t want to take a bus to Machu Picchu. I want to learn to have joy in my sorrow. I think that’s a mountain worth climbing.
