CAFFEINE AFFECTS DIFFERENT PEOPLE in different ways. Some are able to drink it by the gallons with seemingly no effect, while others walk by a brewing pot of caffeinated coffee and they start to get “the shakes.” I fall somewhere in-between.
A couple of cups of tea (no coffee for me) and my motor gets warmed-up, but much more than that and it becomes a lesson in the “law of diminishing returns.” Caffeine after 8:00 at night? Well, let’s just say falling to sleep is no problem, it’s staying asleep that becomes the issue.
The problem for many in our culture today is that we seem to ingest so much caffeine from so many different sources that many are running on a perpetual caffeine induced stupor. A situation that we often feel powerless to stop. The caffeine craze not only affects the inner workings of our bodies, but we feel “naked” if we don’t have a coffee cup in our hands. Desire as we might, it seems impossible to change.
I often feel this way when it comes to my life as a follower of Jesus Christ. I get so “jacked-up” on the caffeine of this world, that it seems near impossible to slow down, let alone stop, and to spend time with my Lord. I want my spiritual life served up like my Earl Grey tea; waiting for me at the counter at Coffee Cat as I walk in the door. I don’t want to sit quietly, or to wait for an answer, or to mature. I want it now!
But, this is not the life to which we have been called. God has made us for work, yes, but He also requires us to rest. The Lord desires for us to experience the blessed gift of time unrushed with Him. Take a breath, relax, rest, and be blessed in His presence.
God created the Sabbath for you.