Estimated reading time: 5 minutes:)
The truth is, I had no idea what I was going to write about today.
So much has happened this week, it’s crazy! And I guess that’s a good problem to have, having SO MUCH to write about you can’t decide what.
This morning I sat with Jesus and asked Him ~ out of all the things I could write about, what should I choose? And He asked me, “what have you learned about me this week?”
I’ve always been hesitant to celebrate.
This week, so many good things happened. I’ll spare you the details, but God just poured out so many blessings on me this week, from helping middle schoolers at winter camp to mentoring another middle schooler to new, exciting things happening.
And all week, I was so hesitant to celebrate.
I think I honestly believed it was better to not get my hopes up about anything, because then I’d never be disappointed.
So many times I’ve gotten my hopes and had them dashed in a moment. So, scarred from those times, I’m terrified to celebrate or get excited about anything.
And that mindset was killing my joy.
I knew I didn’t deserve any of the blessings God’s given me. But since God blessed me anyway, I felt like I didn’t deserve to celebrate. I’m such a fallen, sinful, broken person. I don’t deserve anything. And yet ~
And yet, I don’t deserve Jesus either. And what would Jesus think if I refused to celebrate Him just because I felt like I didn’t deserve to?
I realized: celebration is not a selfish indulgence. It’s an act of worship, if done the way God intends.
God wants us to celebrate his good gifts! He wants us to dance with joy when something good happens in our lives! And to reserve ourselves to the expectation of disappointment is to withhold our worship.
God also opened my eyes to my fear of disappointment this week.
Whenever something good happens in my life, I’m so hesitant to get my hopes up because I know in a moment everything could fall apart. In a moment, my soccer season was cancelled. In a moment, relationships have ended. In a moment, loved ones have died.
But is it God’s will that I live in fear because of the bad things that have happened to me before?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” ~ 2 Timothy 1:7
This fear of disappointment, rejection, and being hurt ~ it is not from God! And by refusing to celebrate, I was believing those lies.
Celebration is scary.
It says, “I’m going to dance in this season even though everything could fall apart in a moment and I could look like a fool.”
It’s pulling out your heart like a flag and letting it fly in the wind. It’s wild and vulnerable out here. But there is so much joy.
So all that’s to say: I learned something crucial about God this week.
God is good.
I was raised to believe predestination, and even though my beliefs have changed and I’m still on the fence about it, there are certain things that still nag at my heart.
I guess I always believed God was neutral. Because I believed predestination, I believed God caused both bad and good things. And since He created both, He wasn’t good nor bad. He was just God.
And for so long, I put my faith in only pieces of God. I knew God was faithful. But good? I knew God was good inherently. But would He do good things?
I trusted God to weather the storm with me. I trusted God to pick up the disaster afterwards. But I never trusted God to bring the sunshine instead of the rain.
I trusted God to deliver me from the Egyptians. I trusted God to bring me to the red sea. But I never trusted Him to part the waters.
Our God parts waters.
And because I felt so undeserving of God’s good gifts, I never believed I would receive them. I believed I’d just have to settle my entire life. I believed joy was something I’d have to choose when times were rough, not something that bubbles up inside of me and overflows.
And goodness gracious, He’s torn down walls I didn’t even know I had this week.
Our God is good!! He wants to give His children blessings because He loves them! Not because we earn them or deserve them ~ but because He loves us recklessly and remarkably.
And isn’t that the gospel right there? God loves us and saves us even though we don’t deserve it. Even though we deserve hell, He gives us heaven. Even though we deserve nothing, He gives us everything.
Matthew 7:7-11 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!“
Our God is good, and He wants to give you good things.
So when those good things come, don’t hoard them in the dark. Don’t protect them with reserved emotions and folded hands.
If God’s blessing are beautiful, fragile china dishes ~ don’t keep them in your cabinet collecting dust because you’re afraid they’ll break.
Bring them out! Feast with your family. Celebrate and use them the way God wants you to.
And if a dish breaks? Well, He’ll always be there to help you clean it up.
Celebrate His faithfulness today! Celebrate what He’s done, what He’s doing, and the promises He still intends on keeping. Celebrate, because He is a good, good Father.
This song is full of so much joy (and it’s one of my favorites, so you should listen to it). Try to ignore the cheesy picture of 4 guys staring intensely at you ~ just listen to the song😂