Coffee or eating a bunch of Caramels

Do not let the title of this blog fool you. I am not that clever or do I desire ever to be the clever one that everyone loves and that everyone runs to hear or read. In the movie Good Will Hunting the main character, Will (played by Matt Damon), is asked to get a cup of coffee with beautiful Skylar (played by Minnie Driver). Quick on charm and intellect Will responds by saying "Great, or maybe we could go somewhere and just eat a bunch of caramels....when you think about it, it's just as arbitrary as drinking coffee." I have always loved that line. It flows so seamlessly that most people do not even remember the line or even notice the genius of what the line meant to the story. Coffee is not the focus but the possible time spent together is what Will is attempting to let Skylar know.

A high majority of the time we want to get to know God in an arbitrary manner. We get caught up in what we are doing and where we are instead of focusing on the time spent together. I catch myself doing more then I would ever want to admit. See I sometimes drift through a day and before I know whats happening I get this thought, "I have not prayed today" or "I have not had my quiet time." So I do what every "good" "classical" "typical" Christian does and that is pray and do my quiet time. To be perfectly honest I leave those sessions with Him feeling great because I did what I have been taught and motivated and led to do. But to what end is now the question I face.

I love coffee. I pride (not in a bad way) myself on finding local, quiet coffee shops that blend into the community that not too many people know about. I go for the peaceful feeling, the aroma, the coffee mugs with no advertising, the board games, the newspaper, and everything else you can imagine that you do not find in a "trendy" coffee shop. But when I leave that experience is over and my day continues. I might leave refreshed and focused but it is not an experience that will last for a day, a week, a month, or even a year. But how many times do we few our time with God that way?

We go to Him for the experience. We go to Him to see what we can get out of it. We go to Him with a subconscious self reason and yet we wonder why some days we feel stagnant, apathetic, and bored. See in my personal opinion, mainly because I struggle with this daily, we have made God about an "experience" instead of "experiencing Him." Yes I know what some of you are thinking, "There is a book/Bible Study called Experiencing God." And you are right and I have read most of that and it is very good and definitely worth reading. However, lets thinks more then just a book and lets think about our daily lives. Our lives minute by minute, hour by hour. Are you experiencing Him throughout the day or are you getting through your day by an experience you had sometime during the day? Are you experiencing Him now or are you waiting for that experience later?

Think with me here for a moment. When you are out getting coffee by yourself or with your friends or even doing something just as "arbitrary" are you worried about how you are going to feel after you are done or are you totally focused on that time you are having? I believe God is everywhere and that He is always with us and that He will never leave us. So why are we so worried about one moment, one experience? Lets not go to Him in a manner of just "status quo" but lets go to Him for His continuing work and never ending love. With Him we can chat for hours and the coffee never gets cold and the shop never closes. So do not rush yourself or put yourself on a time limit. Skylar wanted to get to know Will and she knew that it meant spending time sitting down and talking with him. Will was aware of this but he knew that it did not need to just happen over coffee. That there were other available avenues. We have that as well with the Lord. Sit with Him, enjoy Him, love Him, learn from Him, and be open to Him. All of that needs to be continuous and not bottled up into some preconceived box