The Metaphorical Coffee Connection
Actual Title: The Secret of the Manna Umbrella Coffee
I had a total emotional meltdown the other day after someone I love said something mean about me. (Theoretically kind of true but striking at the heart of my individuality.)
The weird thing is that I am emotionally stable like you wouldn’t believe. I cry. I laugh. I get frightened. Through it all, I keep it together.
What was different about the other day?
It was the only day in recent years of memory when the first thing I did was something other than focusing on God.
Largely thanks to the Internet on my smartphone, I do several devotional and scripture readings before I wash the sleep out of my eyes—heck, before putting my feet on the floor.
When I left God out of the entire morning equation, that was the day of the heartfelt pain and misery and crying of many tears.
When I realized I had left off my God-focus, I knew it was no coincidence. It was definitely an epiphany. God is apparently the One who keeps me from falling completely apart.
I had no idea I was THAT vulnerable without Him. That’s when I came up with the umbrella theory, though you have to see the umbrella as symbolic of manna.
Secret of what the what?
Okay. So in the wilderness, back in the Old Testament, God’s nation wandered for 40 years.
Initially, it was supposed to be a much shorter time, like 11 days, but their lack of faith turned it into four decades.
All that time they lived as nomads. They were divinely fed by food that literally fell from heaven, which they called "manna" or "what is it?"
God instructed them to gather enough for one day. If they gathered more than was needed for a day, it was rotten by morning.
It has always appeared to me that the metaphor for manna is that we are to go to God for spiritual food every morning.
What we partake of one day doesn’t last even to the next day, if we are to be truly sustained and ready for anything that may come our way.
Then I took it a little further to be like living under the umbrella of God’s grace.
If we forget to focus on God, it’s equivalent to stepping out from under the umbrella. Then we are subject to the control of our emotions and all kinds of undesirable who-knows-what-else, which is not a fun way to live.
Coffee works, too
Another very fitting comparison is coffee. Can’t live without your coffee in the morning?
Well, that’s nothing compared to how bad it can be to start your day without Jesus.
Honestly, this is something that only a Christian can truly relate to. You have to have a relationship with God to grasp how undeniably that heavenly connection takes life on earth to a completely different level.
It’s pretty cool amazing empowering.
