According to Design
I'd like you to take a second and look at the coffee mug above.
The coffee mug, when it’s being used according to the way it was designed, sits upright. In this position, you’re able to pour a liquid into it and fill it all the way up.
What happens when you flip that coffee cup upside down? It would be a mess! If you tried to pour coffee in that cup, it would go everywhere, and it wouldn’t hold any of it. It may get covered all around it and get damp, but never filled.
I think this is what happens to us as believers sometimes. We look to certain people or things to fill us and meet a need that we have. We have needs to be affirmed, valued, accepted, seen, known, heard, etc. These are all real and valid needs we have. I believe they’re needs that God placed inside each of us.
Here’s where I tend to have a hard time. Many times we look to all the wrong places to meet those needs. We look to money, a job, a significant other, a friend, social media, video games, a sport, and so on.. We look to someone or something to meet a need that only God can meet.
We’re like that coffee cup. When we look at someone/something other than God to meet a need, we’re that coffee cup flipped upside down. We’re looking to find fulfillment, but we never will. Why? Because we’re not operating according to design. Those things were never created to satisfy me and meet my needs. We end up exhausted and empty.
One of the things I’m re-learning right now is that we were created to be loved by God. God only gets one thing out of creation and that’s a family. He didn’t create me so that I could do things for Him. He didn’t create me to earn His love. He created me so that He could love me.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
God loves us so much that He gave Jesus for us. I believe that is who God is. He is a gift-giver, and He meets our needs.
ACTIVATION: What can you do today to flip that coffee cup rightside up? How can you receive what you need from Him?
I would love to challenge you to do two things:
Journaling Exercise (Take two minutes for each one)
The coffee mug, when it’s being used according to the way it was designed, sits upright. In this position, you’re able to pour a liquid into it and fill it all the way up.
What happens when you flip that coffee cup upside down? It would be a mess! If you tried to pour coffee in that cup, it would go everywhere, and it wouldn’t hold any of it. It may get covered all around it and get damp, but never filled.
I think this is what happens to us as believers sometimes. We look to certain people or things to fill us and meet a need that we have. We have needs to be affirmed, valued, accepted, seen, known, heard, etc. These are all real and valid needs we have. I believe they’re needs that God placed inside each of us.
Here’s where I tend to have a hard time. Many times we look to all the wrong places to meet those needs. We look to money, a job, a significant other, a friend, social media, video games, a sport, and so on.. We look to someone or something to meet a need that only God can meet.
We’re like that coffee cup. When we look at someone/something other than God to meet a need, we’re that coffee cup flipped upside down. We’re looking to find fulfillment, but we never will. Why? Because we’re not operating according to design. Those things were never created to satisfy me and meet my needs. We end up exhausted and empty.
One of the things I’m re-learning right now is that we were created to be loved by God. God only gets one thing out of creation and that’s a family. He didn’t create me so that I could do things for Him. He didn’t create me to earn His love. He created me so that He could love me.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
God loves us so much that He gave Jesus for us. I believe that is who God is. He is a gift-giver, and He meets our needs.
ACTIVATION: What can you do today to flip that coffee cup rightside up? How can you receive what you need from Him?
I would love to challenge you to do two things:
- Complete the journaling exercise below.
- Take a few minutes each morning to sit in silence and ask God to share with you how much He loves you. It might be awkward at first, but keep showing up.
Journaling Exercise (Take two minutes for each one)
- What do I like about God? (Bullet Points)
- What do I like about myself? (Bullet Points)
- Write a note to God telling Him what you like about Him.
- God, what do you like about me? (Can be a bullet point list or a letter from God)
No Comments