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My Cup Overflows

Sam Stringer

Aug 15, 2024

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the
peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen the hands
which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may
not be dislocated, but rather be healed.
Hebrews 12:11-13

We all go through hard things, and sometimes we wonder where God is in all of it, don’t we? If there is
healing to be had in relating back to the pain of past experiences, I think it is found not in praying that
hurtful things never happen again, but in asking God to help us change our outlook on the journey. We
can look wrongfully at both success and failure! Nevertheless, I am speaking more to the difficulty of
making sense of the negatives while also embracing everything in your cup, your basket, your story.

Is your glass half-empty or half-full? Jesus is Lord of the total glass; it’s not half-empty, it’s not half-full,
it’s overflowing with His love be that the void or the liquid. Perspectives on our problems are often where
we find joy or despair and not the problematic issues themselves. My car breaking down is one thing, but
me losing my cool on the side of the highway and refusing to calm down is something else. Hebrews 12
is an encouragement through suffering to remember why it happens and to pick yourself back up in light
of God’s faithful work on you. I encourage you to bravely look at those places that are sensitive and hard
to face. Optimistic faith is always a balm as compared to the decimating effects of pessimistic doubt. God
help you, and me, to believe yet again that He is in control of everything that’s transpired and will take
place between now and glory.

“Half-full and yet Overflowing”
By Sam Stringer

My glass is half-full
But somehow overflows
A mystery before my eyes
But that’s just how it goes

I cannot deny
That half the water is lost
I cannot ignore
The price of what it cost

I cannot change
The glass that I’ve received
I could perhaps close my eyes
And play make believe

I could say it’s not there,
In pessimism pour it out
I could scream at the thing
Or hang my head and pout

But when I look once again
There it still sits
This glass set before me
Over which I’ve thrown fits

I prayed for change
But the glass it would not
Then God consoled me
For my outlook was caught

It wasn’t the water
And it wasn’t the air
That determined my attitude
Towards what was in there

It’s how I saw the glass
And what I looked for
That channeled my heart
To calm the inner war

Yes there is air
But there’s water, too
My cup was filled with both, you know,
By a God whose plan isn’t through

For if I view things right,
Here’s what I see
God gave me both
To mold and shape me

From the cup I’ve been handed
A story was demanded
The tale I now could tell
God could use to help others get well

I don’t have to have
Half-here or half-gone!
Because my cup overflows
By the death and love
Of Jesus, God’s Son

Take courage. Sometimes it is very hard to see any good to the things we’ve gone through. God knows
better and He is willing to lead us through situations that we may not agree with and incredibly grate
against. Where you might see “punishment”, He sees a plan. Use the Bible, not your emotions, to direct
your thoughts and tame your feelings. Be braver than lions.

Sam Stringer

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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