He Fills My Cup

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One night in college, I tossed and turned and could not sleep. Fear of death consumed me. Since I was five I've known I was a sinner, I've known I need Christ, I've believed that all who trust in Him will go to Heaven...

Yet still there was fear.

Death is a big unknown- we believe eternity comes after it, but none of us have physically experienced it. The unknown terrified me that night.

The next morning I opened my Bible to the scheduled passage in my devotional program. Not long into 2 Corinthians 5, I stumbled upon verse 8: "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." 

There it was- the very words my fearful heart needed to hear- to be absent from the body was to be in the Lord's presence. No need to fear death, no need to fear the unknown. I would be with Him; with Jesus, the Friend of sinners and Lover of my soul!

The Lord knew exactly what I needed to hear that very morning, and there it was, tucked away into a Bible reading plan, organized long ago by a man who didn't know who would be following it, or what they would need to read on what day. 

But the Lord knew! He orchestrated my reading, and filled my cup to overflowing!

Last night was another night of anxious tossing and turning, eight years later, over an entirely different issue. I cried and wrestled and could not be comforted. My heart was deaf and blind to the promises of God. Life seemed hopeless.

Then joy came with the morning. As I opened my Bible to the passages prescribed from Robert Murray McCheyene's Bible Reading plan, the very Scriptures I needed to be reminded of jumped off of the pages, filling my heart with joy and trust and comfort and perfect peace. The passage I read from Keep a Quiet Heart also perfectly addressed my silly fears.

Isn't it beautiful how the Lord does that for His children? We stumble through dry dessert periods, where we are reading and praying but still feel dry in our souls, to our bones. When we are at our very driest, He steps in, we hear the rattling, and out of the barren land these dry bones comes together, and flesh grows over them, and life is breathed into them. And suddenly our heart of stone is once again a heart of flesh. There is vigor and rejoicing and new life over flowing in our hearts.

This morning I am rejoicing, because my Lord has met me, and truly "my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever!"

 Has the Lord met you in a special way in a particular time of need? Please share so we may rejoice together! 

And if your heart is longing for such an encounter, ask the Lord! He delights to answer all who call upon Him.