My Cup Overflows
Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
In the Bible, Psalm 23 has been beloved and quoted by multitudes of people since King David penned it around the 10th century, BC, until today. It expresses deep, universal prayers and needs common to our shared humanity. Here at Rewritten in recent months, we’ve been thinking about part of Verse 5 especially–”My cup overflows.” It’s stated after so many expressions of the Lord’s perfect love and provision for us, and it reminds us about spiritual growth that often increases one’s gratitude and generosity. This is a beautiful truth that our Father God gives us his abundant love then helps us to recognize it and to love others in response with our time, talent, and treasure.
As we closed another season of our Young Adult Mentoring and Scholarship Program at ReWritten (ages 17-22), we reflected with our participants on three aspects of their engagement with our program—growth, gratitude, and generosity. We framed the conversations within the context of Psalm 23, highlighting Verse 23:5. We believe that reflection as a spiritual practice is key to our formation as Christian disciples because when we make a habit of reflecting on our daily lives through the lens of Scripture, we’re being intentional about shaping our attitudes, perspectives, and ultimately, our characters.
Reflecting on this concept of growth, gratitude, and generosity, one participant discussed how the things he learned in our mentoring workshops produced a desire to seek friendships with other Christians which allowed him to have deeper discussions about his faith and Scripture. After beginning to build these types of relationships, he expressed how grateful he was for the situations that this fostered, and for his growing awareness that belonging to a Christian community was invaluable. His gratitude inspired him to give back to the community by serving in whatever capacity was available to him–everything from pouring coffee to serving in the children’s ministry.
Another participant spoke about the impact of spiritual practices on increasing her understanding of God’s deeply abundant patience with her. One result of this awareness was an increase in her ability to have more patience with herself when she struggles. She then began to find herself extending more patience to those around her.
Still another member of the program said that engaging with ReWritten’s mentors pushed her to rethink and reframe her relationship to Scripture and God’s nearness to her. After having space to ask questions and process, she began to think more about how Scripture spoke to her own life and circumstances and how God can and wants to be known to her in very real and tangible ways. As a result, she’s begun to provide space for others to re-think and reframe as well.
These sorts of focal points provide intentional ways to reflect on our spiritual growth that can give rise to gratitude for God’s work in our lives, for an increased awareness of his care and provision, and for a recognition that we actually have more than enough. As the Psalm says, our “cup overflows.” The question is, what do we do with the overflow? If we’ve benefited from a life-giving community, are we inspired to strengthen and serve that community? If we’ve learned of God’s abundant patience, are we inspired to be patient with others? If we’ve been challenged to re-think the nearness and availability of God’s presence in our lives, do we then extend an invitation to others to come to know God in a more personal way? Our cup indeed overflows, so let’s be generous with our time, talent, and treasure.