This afternoon I find myself doing what I always do. As Sophia naps, I read & enjoy a couple of cups of tea. Between the quietness & the warmth of that savored cup of tea lies a time of restoration. It is one of my favorite times of day.
But something hit me today. Let me ask you a question:
Which would you rather….
THIS?
Or THIS?
Let’s be honest. We both know the answer to that question. That cup of tea, brewed just the way we like it is what we would pick – every time. For it is not until the tea bag comes out of its pouch & gets submerged into the boiling water that the true flavor is released. The hotter the water, the longer the tea bag is left to seep, the better the flavor.
Oh the irony of this today!
Is this really any different than our lives? Really.
We all would so much rather have life go along without difficulties. No complications to speak of. But would we be as authentic? Would our faith be as precious?
After all that Job went through, he states this:
“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”           (Job 23:10 NIV).Â
Job knows that the only way to have anything lasting, anything of value is to go through. He knows that in going through, he will come forth. He will come forth stronger, bolder, more courageous, authentic. He knows it will be worth it all.
Rabbi Abraham Heschel puts it this way:
  “Faith like Job’s cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.”
Who would have thought that in the mundane & ordinary task of making tea, God would have something to speak into my heart?
                                          Tea anyone?
