Good Gifts

I often think of surrender in terms of accepting the hard things that God has written into our story.  There are good gifts that God has allowed to be taken from us: my precious husband and my son’s loving father; the holiday traditions that were built as a family of three that no longer fit us as a family of two; the empty spot at the Thanksgiving table.  It is a struggle to surrender to the hard things, but I’ve realized recently that I struggle to surrender to the good things too.

There are gifts to be found even in this season of loss.  God is offering me the gift of new traditions, the gift of closeness with my son and a deeper surrender to my God, the gift of letting Jesus fill the holes that only He could fill all along.

What if God is asking me to let go of the things I so desperately want to hold onto and accept instead the good gifts that he is waiting to give me now?

St. Augustine said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”

Although my hands may feel empty with loss, they are actually full of wishes and hopes for the life that was and will never be again.  I’m finding that the tighter I grasp onto what was, the harder it is to experience God’s goodness in my life now.  The same God who gave me the gift of my husband has other gifts that I can only receive when I open up my hands and truly let go.  

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadow.”  

Our unchanging Heavenly Father is both the source of every gift and the ultimate gift we could possibly receive. 

So this Thanksgiving, I am asking Jesus to help me let go.  To let go of the things I want to hold onto, and accept instead the good gifts that He has for me now.