Iced Coffee & Earl Gray

Slow Sundays. I have always been drawn to the quiet, the moments that are spent doing the simple things that bring great joy and contentment to my soul. I love lying in bed in the morning, drinking in the sound of the birds and the whisper of the wind, to smell the freshness of the air through my cracked window. I love spending my afternoons curled up with a cup of tea or iced coffee and my nose stuck firmly in my chosen book. As these weeks have passed, I have learned to let my restlessness go. I have been learning that these times are such a precious gift and indeed, though not quite what I had in mind, an answer to my prayers.

This morning during online church, my pastor spoke about God's love and grace to ordinary people during difficult moments in their lives. He discussed how God doesn't expect us to be able to shrug off each painful moment or heartache as if it was nothing. He doesn't expect us to always be okay. He knows we are human and we are inconsistent. Our minds and moods change with the wind, one moment full of content, the next anger, and the next despair. Our strength lasts but a little time and we are sooner rather than later, back to wishing things were different, or that we had never been. The pastor spoke of how God loves us in these moments. He doesn't come to us in full power and strength, in mighty winds and fires, in terrible earthquakes and thunderstorms that shake the earth we stand on. He comes in the quiet, in those still, simple moments, in the gentle whisper of an evening breeze.

How much this resonated with me when I first heard it. I had made myself an earl gray and was gently thinking about the pleasantness of its taste and the smoothness of it on my tongue. Such a simple thing, a cup of tea, and yet it brought me such a moment of contentment. This is God's grace, His presence in our little moments, the small gifts He provides to help us continue on, even in the darkest of times. I often am tempted to look for the miraculous, the larger than life experiences that are bound to change who I am or what I cannot control around me. I stress and worry my mind in depression and anxiety and fear, fear that God doesn't really care and maybe He never really did. However, through my pastor's message this morning I was reminded of what a gift and what an act of grace are these small moments that I treasure. He is always with me and answers my prayers in the most unexpected and gentlest ways. He may not remove the obstacle which I am facing, it may be painful and hard to bear, but He is with me still. He provides me with small, seemingly insignificant things that bring me strength and hope. I am human and I waver, I despair, and I fall. But my heavenly Father knows this and He sits with me and listens, He waits, and when I am done with my mourning or my venting, and He has renewed my strength- He asks me to journey on, keeping my eyes on Him through whatever may come.

I hope this may act as an encouragement to you. Take a moment to appreciate this time, though painful and frustrating, it may be the answer to a prayer you have needed. It may be that this is time to prepare, to heal, and to discover new things. I hope and pray that I may continue to learn how to relinquish my desires and my worries to all-knowing King, one who cares always for His people.

"God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them."

~C. S. Lewis