Here is a picture from the table I was sitting at in a Starbucks in Busan, South Korea.  It was a nice view and a nice place.  Last week my family and I spent three days in Busan and I got up early and went to Starbucks every morning that we were there. 

Why?.... well, for lots of reasons:

• I like Starbucks coffee
• The view of the beach was fantastic
• I had to walk along the beach to get to the Starbucks (that was nice)
• I like to have a bit of quiet time to myself at the beginning of each day
• My back was hurting and I couldn't stay in bed any longer
• I need caffeine in the morning

--but those reasons aren't the main reason.  The main reason I got up early and went to Starbucks each morning was to meet with God.

That might sound a bit profound and a bit profane--Meet with God????......at Starbucks?!?

I am sorry to say, but there is no magic in Starbucks.  It is a just a place.  But it was a good place for me, for three days, in Busan.  It was such a good place that it now serves as a great memory in my mind.  Why?....well not because of the coffee, or the view, but because God was there.

You see, God is always there but I don't always give Him my attention.  The morning is one of the few times in my day that I try to deliberately focus my attention--my heart and my mind--on God.  I read the Bible, I read devotional thoughts written from the likes of Oswald Chambers and George McDonald, I write in my journal and I pray--and somehow, in some mysterious way, I experience God.  He is there and I am glad that I am there.

When I say I experience God I use the term "experience" broadly.  I know God is there because He says He is always with us and deep in my heart I just know that I know that He is there. Some mornings my time in the Word and in prayer are richer than other times--sometimes I am convicted and sometimes I am encouraged, sometimes I see clearly and sometimes I see through a glass darkly, sometimes I am deeply moved and sometimes I feel flat and unmoved.  Regardless,....He is there.

I am not sure that my experience is what is most important.  The thing that makes the time, place and meeting so special isn't the coffee, it is that I am there and......so is God.