As I spent time on social media, I began to feel a weight of expectations for my own life to match the life I was seeing of others. The more I strived to have the life I was seeing on social media, the less content I became and I began to question everything about myself. Finally, my husband called me out and I decided to fast social media and take my discontentment to the Gospel. Within a few days, I quickly realized that the content I was seeing seemed so scripted. Where was the authenticity? The more I prayed through my struggles, I felt the challenge to, in fact, live more "scripted", which brought me back to this blog I had created months prior. Except the “scripted” life I desire is one that is less scripted for likes and followers and more rooted in the Scripture—the Gospel, so that what I share with the world reflects the hope I profess, the grace I’m dependent on, and the glory of the Lord. As I prayed, I realized I wasn't the only person out there who desired this authenticity. I desire for this blog to be a safe place where others can come, just as they are, for genuine connection. I don't have it all together and I am tired of trying to. There is beauty in the simple, yet purpose-filled life. Grab a cup of coffee and stay a while. I pray that the Lord uses the words He gives me to encourage and give you hope along your path.
So often I don’t feel like even taking a sip from that cup or I’ll take one sip thinking that will be enough to make God remove the cup. Then the cup remains and I find myself in a place where I would rather get dehydrated than take a sip from that suffering cup. We all find ourselves in seasons or situations we’d rather not go through, but instead to bypass. Suffering can be a strong word. Sometimes it’s more like unmet expectations, because “hello, God, have you not heard me down here praying?” Other times it can be a season of disappointment as I stare at my unmet desires. In my stubbornness to take a drink from the cup set before me, I choke on envy or pride or any number of things that keep me focused only upon how the cup before me is not what I want, and not focused on the one who has allowed the cup to set before me. We do not have to feel guilty with our desire to remove the cup, Jesus was not to fond of the cup places before him, either. In Matthew 26, Jesus asked God three times to take the cup, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”. Jesus was bold enough to ask for the cup to be taken away, but reverent enough to acknowledge its value, “nevertheless, not as I will; but as you will” (v.39), “My Father, it this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (v. 42). There didn’t seem to be a lot of good in the cross in the moment. There was no joy for Abraham as he walked Issac up the mountain. Esther didn’t rejoice that she was risking her life to save her people. David did skip up to Goliath humming a catchy tune. Yet, they all drank from the cup anyway. Why? Because there was a greater hope in what was unseen, than what was seen. What God would establish through the cup of suffering was far greater than the bitter taste the cup had to offer. Our cup of suffering can be what allows God to mold us into exactly who he needs us to be. It can lay a foundation for greater communion with Him and open doors to trust him more deeply. The cup, however that looks like for you, is not meant to be easy to accept or to drink; but it is a necessary reckoning to get us where God is leading us.
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Hi! I'm Morgan.Follower of Christ. Grace dependent. Wife. Mama. Homebody. Archives
July 2020
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