What Starbucks Can Teach You About God

I was at Starbucks this morning ordering a new creation. Some friends have been tweeting about a venti toffee-nut Americano and I knew I needed to try it.

I ordered, plunked my dough down and made my way Soup Nazi-style to the end of the line to wait for my drink. The guy behind me ordered a latte and found his way down by me to wait. We were both milling about when I noticed the barista making a drink that looked very different than what I had ordered. It didn’t very much look like a latte either.

The barista was making a very big, very chocolatey, very caffeinated venti mocha. “Maybe she needs an extra boost to get her through the morning,” I thought to myself.

I noticed there was a third guy in line who was eyeing this drink pretty hard. I didn’t hear his order, but you could tell he was wondering if the diabetic-coma-inducing mocha waiting in the on-deck circle was for him.

The anticipation was thick–you could see it in his Coke-bottle-bespecled eyes. “Is it? Could it be? Is that drink ….. for me?” he seemed to be saying.

Then the barista handed the mocha to her co-worker at the cash register, who in turn handed it to the man-in-waiting. His eyes sparkled and his mouth grew into a smile a mile wide. Then he said something that struck me:

“She knew. She knew what I wanted all along!”

Before me.
Before the next guy in line.
The barista saw this man in line and automatically began making his drink because she knew him. She knew what he would order, what he likes, so she took the initiative and made it without him even asking.

The response from the man was more than simple appreciation. This was a person who felt as though someone–even a barista at Starbucks–knew him in some way. It probably changed his whole day.

One simple act.

It hit me as I was watching this unfold that this is what life with God is like. We sit in line, waiting to get to the front so we can make our demands known. We impatiently wait on the line to shorten so we can say what we need to say, get what we need to get.

Once we get to the front of the line, before we can even finish our order, we see that what we were going to order is already made for us. Lots of times, what we get is way better than what we were going to order. God knew what we liked and already had it ready for us. He thought ahead and acted intentionally.

Piping hot. Fresh. Sweet. Made specifically for us. This is the goodness of God.

Kind David said, “I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.” I can officially say to you that I saw the goodness of God today. All while waiting in line at Starbucks.

What about you?