On my way to a fellowship meeting last Sunday I did what I usually do, stop and grab a coffee at the McDonald’s Drive Thru. I enjoy a good cup of coffee and you can’t beat the price, especially if you have the app.
When the young man handed me the coffee, I didn’t notice that the lid was not on tight. I grabbed the cup, naturally squeezed it, and hot coffee poured all over my hand. It was painful but I kept calm. The young man looked like he was in shock, I had to instruct him to grab the cup from my hand. I could tell he was new and this was probably the first and hopefully the last time this would happen.
In a couple of minutes I arrived at my friend Victor’s home and he grabbed an ice pack. For those concerned about my health, I appreciate you. The next couple of hours I was intermittently applying ice to my hand. The pain subsided and the next day the only reminder was slight redness in the area where I got burned.
Looking back, I’m kind of proud of how I reacted. I didn’t drop the “F” bomb, I didn’t yell at the young man or demand he be fired, I didn’t request my $1.07 to be refunded and I didn’t think about opening a court case. I did think about getting $10 in McDonalds coupons, but didn’t go through with calling customer support. I didn’t want to get the young man in trouble.
My thinking was this, perhaps this happened to me so the young man would learn the importance of checking the lid. Perhaps if I didn’t get burned, some younger, more delicate skinned person would get burned worse. Whatever my thinking, I do feel like I passed a test.
Like Lady Galadriel, I had passed the test and now “I will diminish”. Over time and through testing, we hopefully find our sinful nature “diminishing” and His nature increasing in us.
Life will continue to slap us around; how do we choose to react? Do we turn the other cheek or do we fight back in our own power? I know this was just a small slap. Many of us have had crushing slaps, made worse because they came from people who were suppose to love and protect us. We must trust Christ to get us through. He left instructions on how to handle all sorts of difficulties.
Lady Galadriel passed the test and achieved her hope of “going into the West”, leaving Middle Earth and going to an eternal beautiful realm. This imagery by Tolkien is a reflection of heaven where Christ promised to go and prepare a place for us! It is a reminder that this place is only our temporary home and what awaits us is too glorious to comprehend. Let this future hope sustain us and cause us, while here, to strive to be conformed to His image.
We don’t know what evil awaits us in the future. Let’s pass the tests that come our way now, so we have a hope that we will reflect Christ then.
Do you love coffee? Subscribe below so you never miss a cup.