LET IT COOL

Japanese traditional tea cups have no handles. You hold the cup directly in your hands. This may seem unusual, especially if we are used to mugs with handles. But there is wisdom in this simple design. The cup itself helps you know whether the tea is ready. They consider, that if the tea is too hot to hold, then it is too hot to drink.

What a beautiful lesson for life.

So often, we want to rush. We want quick answers, quick healing, quick success, quick change. We pray today and expect tomorrow’s miracle. We plant a seed and look for fruit the next morning. We want God to open the door immediately, explain the silence immediately, and remove the discomfort immediately.

But life with God does not always move according to our timetable. Scripture reminds us, “There is a time for everything” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There is a time to move forward, and there is a time to wait. There is a time to speak, and there is a time to be silent. There is a time to receive, and there is a time to be prepared.

Sometimes waiting feels uncomfortable. We do not like delays, uncertainty, silence. Yet those moments may be God’s gentle way of slowing us down. The closed door, the unanswered prayer, the long season of waiting, the uncertainty about tomorrow quietly tell us: not yet. Wait a little longer. Let it cool. Let it settle. Let wisdom grow.

A rushed decision can burn us. A rushed word can wound someone. A rushed life can miss the beauty God has placed right in front of us. Tea becomes enjoyable when it is received patiently. Life becomes deeper when it is lived patiently. Some blessings are the same way. They are beautiful, but they must be received in God’s time. If we grasp them too early, we may not be ready to carry them well.

So today, if something feels too heavy, too uncertain, or too uncomfortable to hold, don’t rush through it. Hold it with prayer. Hold it with trust. God may be using this very moment to steady your heart and prepare you for what is coming.

Because sometimes the waiting itself is part of the blessing.

Bishop Mesrop Parsamyan
May 23, 2026