Cleaning the coffeemaker

June 12, 2006

By Randy Mantik

My wife and I are avid coffee drinkers. I think it all started years ago when my sister, Pat, would ship us this delectable coffee from a shop in Red Lodge, Mont. At the time, we were living in an RV while traveling in music ministry with Debbie’s sister and her husband. We’d put a pot of coffee on first thing every morning. My brother-in-law often commented on how good it smelled when he walked by outside. There’s nothing like the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Lately our veteran coffeemaker has been showing some signs of age. It used to brew a pot of coffee very quickly. Over the years it has gradually slowed down and has also developed a nasty habit of stopping in the middle of the cycle. So the battle of the coffeemaker switch begins. Who’s going to get up and press the button? Sometimes it stops two or three times.

I realize you may be thinking, Well, for Pete’s sake, go get a new coffeemaker or at least run one of those cleaners through your old one!

Yes, we’re saving for the coffeemaker of our dreams. But in the mean time, we do the cleaning thing. Sometimes it takes a few applications plus numerous rinse cycles; it’s actually kind of a pain. Besides, the whole process can even seem kind of useless because after all, there’s no coffee being made.

What’s the point? Well, when the cleaning is finally completed and the coffeemaker runs through the whole cycle without stopping, it’s heavenly! The preparation and the cleansing seem kind of pointless while they’re happening, but they are actually the most important things we can do in our quest for a decently brewed pot of coffee. No cleaning, no coffee.

The apostle Paul talks about such a cleansing time in his life. After he was miraculously saved he did not immediately go into ministry. He waited. Read his words:

“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.” (Galatians 1:15-18, NIV)

What does that mean for us today? Living for Christ is more than attaining knowledge or even actually getting out there and doing His work. It is first about going through regular times of preparation and cleansing so that we can be renewed in Him and He can continue to flow through us unhindered. That does not come cheaply.

The cleaning process is not always comfortable or convenient. The time may seem so unproductive. As He’s putting us through yet another “rinse cycle,” we may be thinking, God, I should be ready by now! Why must I wait? Why must I go through this process again?

In similar waiting times, I remember someone calling it “God’s waiting room,” as if God were a doctor and we were waiting for an appointment with Him. However, over time I’ve learned that we’re not really waiting on God. God is waiting on us, working in us to clean the gunk away.

As we learn to stand in awe of His great plan and put our complete trust in Him, we will always be glad for the time of waiting, for the time of purifying, for the time of clarifying God’s vision in our heart. Only then can our purpose be fulfilled.

If you feel like you’re not quite “percolating” as of late, let God run His cleansing power through so you can be an open conduit for the rivers of Living Water, flowing freely out of you to a dry and thirsty world.

Randy Mantik is senior pastor of Beecher Assembly of God in Pembine, Wis.