Starbucks and Scripture

OK, I confess. I love Starbucks coffee. I know it is expensive. I know it is trendy. I know it is an emblem of American consumerist culture. Yet, they know coffee and they do it well. It tastes delicious! I know they at least treat their employees well…I even investigated working part time at Starbucks in the recent past simply because they provide health insurance for part time employees. More power to them for that!

One of the things I have found interesting at Starbucks lately is the quotations on the side of the cup. For you who are not privy to Starbucks culture… When you purchase coffee in a paper cup at Starbucks, they have quotes from normal, everyday customers printed on the side in their trademark black and green. The one on my coffee cup today struck me cold.

The Way I See It #247
“Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure.”
--Bill Scheel
Starbucks customer from London, Ontario. He describes himself as a ‘modern day nobody.’”

Why do we ask God for strength and help? Is God some cosmic genii who answers to our ever whim? Well, no. Does asking God for help makes us feel better? Well, sometimes. So, does asking God for help do anything?

I turned to the Scriptures for some answers to my questions. Paul writes to the church in Philippi, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13, NIV). So with God’s strength, I can do anything…OK, good…

Paul tells Timothy, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth” (2 Timothy 4:17). God gives strength if you ask for it. God is even with you in the tough times….That is comforting…

Back in the Old Testament, the psalmist writes, “You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! (Psalm 68:35). The power and strength of God is not just for the super holy or the saint. It is for all people…That is REALLY comforting to me, the sinner…

Paul tells the church at Colossae, “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:10-12). God gives us strength so that we can have endurance and patience and so that we can give thanks because of our inheritance as children of God. Life on earth is difficult. We do need endurance and patience in order to withstand the brokenness of our lives and to resist the temptation of sin…Whew! This is good stuff!

I think that Mr. Scheel has it wrong. God has been present with me in too many places and I have felt the presence of God too many times for me to write God off as a figment of my active imagination. Mr. Scheels is right in that I do know that I am strong. Now that I have had to withstand some storms in my life, I know that I am even stronger than I had originally given myself credit for. Yet, my strength does not come just from my personality or tenacity or even pure dumb luck. It comes in my grounding of faith. I am unafraid of death, because I know whose I am. I am unafraid of life because I know that Jesus walks beside me in all that I do. I am unafraid of change because God is the same today, tomorrow, and forever.

I invite you to ask God for strength in your daily life. Calling on the name of the Holy of Holies when you are about to loose it with your kids or with your boss invites the strength of the Creator of the universe into your life. God is waiting to be invited into that space with you.

Great and merciful God, be with me in the daily difficulties of life. Walk with me at Wal-Mart. Sit with me Starbucks. Follow me at the Ford dealer. Give me strength to deal with all that is on my plate. Give me endurance to withstand all that tugs on me. Give me patience with my friends and my family. Be my strength and my shield. Amen.