One afternoon I was sitting in class waiting for the professor to begin and he started the class with a devotion. It was a story about a little girl who dropped her coins inside of a vase and in her attempt to get them out she got her hand stuck. She was crying hysterically to her mother, but her mother knew that the solution was simple. Her mother asked her to open her fist and make her hand really slim so that it would slide out. The little girl cried and protested that she wanted her coins, she refused to let go of them.
“Wow, if the little girl only trusted her mom and let go she would be free and have her coins,” was the first thing I thought. Suddenly, it hit me, that little girl was me! I was holding onto something that would keep me from being free and from fully stepping into the great things that God was calling me to. This story was stuck on my mind for a couple of days as I continued to ponder the idea of letting go. On Sunday morning I went to church with a heavy heart and as they were worshiping I kept thinking, “God, can I really let go? How can I let go?” The worship ended and we sat down waiting for the message and to my surprise it was about joy.
John 16: 20-24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy. Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world. Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”
Jesus was saying that in the face of everything falling apart we would still have joy and no one would be able to take it away. God doesn’t deny the fact that there will be sorrow, but one day we will know joy and all the pain we felt would be worth it. When we go through hardships we also have the opportunity to show God’s glory and our sorrow and pain will enhance the depth of our joy as a believer. Even though it hurts, God is making our roots go deeper so we can be stronger against the wind.
I felt as though the message was speaking right to me and I knew that I was going to be okay. At the end of the message the pastor mentioned that he sensed God was calling many of us into big things and he asked that anyone who wanted to live in joy to come to the front of the stage for prayer. I went up to the stage and the pastor had us repeat, “I am not God’s disappointment, I am God’s joy.” The pastor then said, “Let go of your disappointment so that you can have joy.”I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, my eyes began to water and I had a huge smile on my face, God was answering me right there. I love hugs and I felt as though God was hugging me at that very moment saying, “You can let go.”
What is something you have been disappointed about, are you ready to let it go?
