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Picture this.

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along beside you and bumps into you, making you spill your coffee all over the place.

Why did the coffee spill? “Because someone had the audacity to bump into my arm.” Wrong. You spilled your coffee because there was coffee in your cup. Had there been tea in the cup you would have spilled tea. Had it been Coca Cola you would have spilled Coke. Had you had wine in that cup you would have spilled wine. Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.

“Alright smarty-pants, what’s the point?” I am glad you asked.

The point is a spill teaches us a few lessons. One lesson is that we should be grateful we even had something in the cup. We are more fortunate than most. Some don’t have clean running water. Some, even folks in communities around us, have had town ordinances advising residence to boil their water to make it safer to drink during times. Some folks in our communities aren’t able to have three meals a day. Some folks can’t afford a Coke or Pepsi. Recently. it was told that Dr. Pepper was beginning to show a shortage which is a catastrophe to many, So, if whatever was in your cup spilled, be thankful you had something in that cup or that you even have a cup to put stuff in.

Another lesson for us is in realizing the truth of how life shakes all of us at times. The unforeseen sickness, bills, hardship, tough time, or whatever it may be can shake you to your core. Whatever is inside you will come out.

It’s easy to fake life at times until something shakes you. When you are shaken, whatever is inside you (mentally, spiritually, emotionally) will come out. What is inside you? What’s in your cup? When life gets tough and difficult, what spills out from your mouth, your mind, your heart? During trying times are you able to be joyful, positive, optimistic, grateful, peace loving, humble? During tough times are you more angry, bitter, filled with cursing and hard words? Are you more apt to remain as calm as possible and seek God and spend time with Him or get on the phone and grumble, gossip, complain to a few or as many folks as possible?

Fill your cup with God and His goodness. As the apostle Paul ended the 12th chapter in Romans, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We all have those moments, so when those times come, and life shakes you make sure what spills out is a little more God. #bethegood

Rev. J. Cameron Bailey is pastor of Kenbridge Christian Church. He can be reached at jamescameronbailey@gmail.com.