The Facade of Jesus & Coffee

Every morning before the sun would rise, before my kids awake, before the house seemed chaotic upon school readiness… I would reach in the cabinet, grab my favorite mug, and pour me the already made coffee.

The smell would suddenly hit, the warmness of the mug would fill my body, and the first sip seemed quite pleasant.

I’d begin to sit comfortably in my chair, reaching my bible and beginning my morning routine.

Pens. Highlighters. Journal. Devotionals. Bible Study.

It was all there.

I was ready to begin my mornings with Jesus. And honestly, I couldn’t wait. I was ready the night before, ready to awake in the mornings and spend my non-distracted mornings with Jesus and having my cup of coffee.

Until…

My mornings seemed to have gone haywire. And the word routine began to make me feel sick to my stomach.

That morning I felt Jesus pull on my heart, so gently, so soft, so loving, to get rid of coffee with him.

“Did I just hear this correctly? Did you just say no more coffee with you Jesus?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. I believe this happens to quite a bit of us when we hear Jesus speak and we ask “was this you saying this?” As I asked again, I felt that gentle nudge.

“Why on earth would I need to give rid of coffee with you Jesus? Am I doing something wrong? I thought this was our mornings?”

As I began that week to let go of the “coffee + Jesus” thing he began to stir in my heart quite a few things actually, that stung the heart in ways I never thought could.

Although sipping on some warm delicious coffee with Jesus in the early mornings wasn’t merely bad…. it is just that. Coffee WITH Jesus. It should never be coffee AND Jesus. These two are two different things. As he began to pull back the coffee he began to pour more into my heart that I never knew was needed.

When we first wake up in the morning what is the first thing we do? The very first thing we head to? Check? Look at? Think about?

These are the things that hinder our hearts and view from spending our time with Jesus. Our minds become cluttered and our hearts begin to feel the race.

As I mentioned a bit ago, having coffee with Jesus isn’t wrong, it is the mindset of what we have chosen first.

As for me, I ran to coffee first, then came to sit with Jesus. Instead it should have been the other way around. Sitting with Jesus first than later grabbing my coffee.

Coffee will only quench your thirst temporarily while Jesus…. He quenches your soul thirst and makes it full to the brim.

Jesus tells the Samaritan Woman at the well in John 4:13-14, ¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This one verse he had to speak to me over and over again while giving up coffee in that time period. The coffee would not give me an eternal life, or living water that springs forth more… rather it would be keeping my eyes off Jesus. The perfecter of our faith. Our Savior.

In almost every store I walk into, I see the facade…. the “trend” on mugs, shirts, even door mats saying “Coffee and Jesus”. Or even “All I need is coffee and Jesus.”

Though I use to say this a lot before not understanding or grasping the meaning behind it, I now understand it and see it more clearly now. It wasn’t until Jesus had to take me into that place to begin what I call “heart surgery”. An opening of the heart, removing what was blocking my view to solely be with Christ and Christ Alone, to replace the bad with the good, the removing to have more room for Him.

The Coffee + Jesus sweet friend… is a facade… something that is the “front” view rather than what’s truly happening behind it. It is a trend that seems to pop up all over social media only to “show” how “neat” and “perfect” it looks when really…. It should never be Coffee + Jesus or Jesus AND ______. It should be Christ and Christ ALONE. Never anything else. He is the only one who can fill our cups up. The only one who can bring joy, peace, even warmth to our souls.

Friend, I do not want to leave you here feeling condemned because there is no condemnation in this article.
I don’t want you leaving here feeling guilty, because I’ve been there and I want you to know guilt leads us away from Christ, not closer to Him. It pulls us back feeling He is upset but instead he wants us to draw near to Him.
I don’t want you to feel I am speaking directly to you in a harsh way, because this article is full of love and grace. I extend that to you dear sister because goodness do I know the feeling….
And please don’t feel shame. Every one of us had/has struggled in one area. It is in our weakness that God shows us His strength.

So I ask you sis, what has hindered your view from Jesus?

Where do you catch yourself saying Jesus AND_____?

When you first awake… what is the very thing that runs through your mind? Or what do you reach to first?

Repent sister, and get your heart back into God asking for forgiveness and asking Him to help you in this time. He will surely do it sis! He is a God of grace, a God of covenant, a God who sustains us in these hard moments. He is forever faithful, and never leaves us in those places.

• The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
• Draw near to God and He will draw near to you, dear sister. (James 4:8a)
• Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Just to let you in on a little update….

Our gracious God has allowed me to drink coffee again… but this time it is different. I don’t always go for coffee every morning when I read my bible. Some mornings I do reach for some after my reading or when he has allowed me to but some mornings I can go without coffee. It honestly doesn’t phase me any because I have came to see Jesus is my all. My everything. My life. The one in whom my soul delights in. And this my sweet sister, is what I want for you. For your soul to delight in Jesus. To delight in God and His Word. Because once you begin to find yourself delighting in Him, everything else falls into its place of how God wants it to be.

So hang tight sis!

Next time he says to get rid of, to stop something, or let go…. be obedient and willing. He has something more wonderful to offer.