Justin: Cup of Water Story

-By Justin

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV)

I know this is a commonly used verse but one thing that has been in the back of my mind in my current season is just how I, and the world, need to know Jesus, love him, and be joyful knowing our salvation lies with him. It’s just so easy to fall in a spiral of despair; whether it’s just focusing on our struggles and challenges, consumed by our own self-worth and pride, desiring things we don’t have, or even just comparing our lives to those perfectly curated clips we see on social media. It’s so easy to lose of sight of Jesus and our salvation and feeling joy for the things we have been blessed with.

This idea of joy really came to forefront of my mind on a recent trip abroad with my mother-in-law. She is a passionate Christian who is a very active member of her church community and is someone who I believe helped shape my wife’s own faith. Through this incident though, I am reminded that despite knowing what the bible says, we are all just broken people. Ok, so here’s the story.

We were blessed to be able to travel abroad and be tourists as a family including my mother-in-law. One night, my wife and I decided to treat her to a nice steak meal for dinner. We had been walking pretty far to get to the restaurant so when an assistant waiter came to take our orders, my mother-in-law just requested water. This was a very fair request but the restaurant had a policy that each person must choose a course as well as purchase a separate drink. We were in a country where both my mother-in-law and the waiter do not speak the same language and both struggled communicating with broken English. The waiter was confused at her request for water and pointed towards the menu and my wife ended up quickly ordering a drink for her just to alleviate the awkwardness/confusion.

The ordered drinks came quickly but the water did not and it ended up requiring us to ask our main waiter and waiting like 20 minutes for the water. It took awhile but at least the water came. Throughout the nice dinner, my wife and I noticed something was off with my mother-in-law. She was just so appalled that at such a nice a restaurant, the waiter did not provide “good service” and felt like they insulted her by not bringing out the water. She begrudgingly ate her meal and acted like she did not enjoy the food (despite it being good) as the interaction really affected her view of the restaurant and ultimately the nice meal.

Towards the end of the meal (like an hour+ into dinner), I could still see that water thing was still top of mind and bothering her. It may not have been my brightest moment, and I’ll admit her reaction to dinner was starting to make me upset so I challenged her in a more heated tone than I would have liked (counter to how I am normally, I am an Enneagram 9 - Peacemaker after all). I remember saying something along the lines of:

“How can you let something so small affect this dinner. Where is your joy? I understand your pride was hurt and you feel wronged after making such a reasonable request but how can you let something so small as this from someone we don’t even know and won’t see ever again affect you so much? We are so blessed to be able to travel here and eat such nice food. Ultimately, we know Jesus. We know our greatest source of joy. We have so much to be thankful for.”

The spiel ended up working, stopping my mother-in-law from fixating on the incident, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the dinner. It reminded me that while maybe at that moment I was joyful (though I’ll admit I was becoming less so and thus I lashed out), how many times in my life have I not had that joy due to both the smallest and largest of things that life brings. How long did I have bitterness in my heart when I was laid off and applying for jobs? How long am I currently harboring bitterness for having to commute everyday or having to work later when God provided a me a new job? How long have I had bitterness as God’s plan differed from my own?

There’s always something to be unhappy about, to struggle with, to want more of, or to compare ourselves against. None of us are ever alone though in those struggles. I know this post is not anything new or enlightening but I hope this post can just serve as reminder that in all situations to pause, pray, be in community, and be joyful.

For 1 Peter 1:8-9 says “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls”.

No matter the struggles or challenges, I hope we can still find at least a little joy as through faith alone, we have been given the greatest gift.