“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”
I'm the kind of person who gets attached to things very easily, and it's incredibly difficult for me to let go of something once I've latched onto it. Even the smallest good thing that walks into my life can become very important to me—a person, a place, an event, an object, anything.
That attachment almost used to always lead to a crippling fear that I'd lose whatever I was holding onto so tightly. Even if there was no evidence or sign that the good thing was leaving anytime soon, I got consumed by a fear of losing such a wonderful blessing. Am I the only one?
God Gives Good Gifts
“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
I know God gives good gifts, but somehow that made my fears worse. I became terrified that the good thing God gave me would be torn away, never to be replaced by any blessing ever again. I mean, what if God decided never to bless me again?
This caused me to hold all the more tightly to the good thing until it became an unhealthy obsession. Instead of enjoying the blessings He put in my life at just the right time, I grew more and more miserable at the prospect of losing it. I felt like I'd lose everything and live without joy until the end of time.
Dramatic. I know. But the feelings were real at the time.
God's Goodness is Limitless
“The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”
God has been teaching me that He's always good—all the time. In fact, He can't stop being good. And He doesn't stop putting good things into my life just because some have been taken away, because He's also full of grace.
I don't always believe I deserve good things, and I often don't even ask for them. Yet, because God is good, gracious, and unchanging, He's always going to put the perfect amount of good things into my life at the perfect time—even if I don't feel worthy enough to ask.
Hold On Loosely
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven... A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away.”
My Heavenly Father has been teaching me to place all His good gifts into His hands. He's asking me to hold them loosely and trust that He'll provide as my spirit needs. There's a time and a season for all things (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Although my progress often falters, I'm learning to have enough faith to go where He leads and trust that He'll continue to bless me with the things that make life beautiful.
If God allows a blessing to fade away, like a friendship, He isn't going to forbid me from ever having a similar blessing again. He will always, always give me what I need (Philippians 4:19; Matthew 6:31-32). The good things in my life might change, but there will always be good things to find.
God does want me to grow and often uses hard circumstances to do so, but He's so far never asked me to live a wretched, joyless existence. I'm learning to simply enjoy His blessings and be thankful even when good things are taken away. Life is a lot better without those irrational, crippling fears tainting every meaningful, good thing that God allows to come into my life.