the sweet cup.

The other day I was reading the daily devotional out of Oswald Chamber's My Utmost for His Highest  and came across a couple sentences that really stuck out at me (there's great ideas/truths/nuggets of wisdom everyday but this one really resonated with me.) It goes:

Always guard against self-chosen service for God; self-sacrifice may be a disease. If od has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; if He has made it bitter, drink it in communion with Him. If the providential order of God for you is a hard time of difficulty, go through with it, but never choose the scene of your martyrdom.

It's been very obvious to me that this time in life is that of a sweet cup -- life feels too good to be true. I'm surrounded by so many studly and amazing people, I get to go to an amazing school with a super sick campus here in BA, classes are interesting and relatively easy (compared to last year), we get so much good food, i get to travel the world, I'm relatively healthy, and so much more. In the past when I've been in times with a lack of struggle, I have struggled. I like challenges, I like having something to fight against. It's in struggles where I find myself growing and coming closer to God, and so I have turned away the sweet times and prayed for more hard times. This passage made me realize that my desire to struggle is a self-chosen service, a selfish sacrifice and that that is unholy. There is a season for everything, and that includes times for the sweet cup. I need to know that struggles are sure to come my way, but for now in this time of joy, bliss, happiness, easiness, and sweetness I need to be so, so thankful  and need to learn how to see, feel, and grow in God outside of a struggling context.