.png){kind=small}
The irony hit me the moment the words escaped my lips.
"You have to let go so I can give you something better," I patiently whispered to my four-month-old son as he sucked vehemently on his pacifier. It was 3:30 a.m. and his little tummy was growling for mom's milk. Pulling a pacifier out of an aggressively sucking baby's mouth feels downright cruel. But I knew what was in store for him if he would only trust me enough to let go.
Moments after he finally acquiesced, releasing his tight grip, he was happily eating his midnight snack. As his tummy filled with warm milk I could see his features relax into a state of complete satisfaction.
How many times does God patiently whisper, "you have to let go so I can give you something better."? Meanwhile I stubbornly pacify myself on the known, the comfortable, the predictable. I worry if I let go, will I be satisfied? Will God provide? My human reasoning fails me as I tell myself it's not safe to let go. But my faith tells me it's the safest thing I could ever do - to let go and trust God will give me something better. Something beyond what I could have imagined in the first place.
He asks me to let go of many things. Maybe some you can relate. My pride, my preconceived notions of what should be, my control, my fear of what others might think, my fear of letting Him down, my already-forgiven sins, my selfishness.
Or, sometimes he asks me to let go of more tangible things. For instance, how many times has he gently beckoned me to let go of my to-do list for just a moment, so I can sit with him and simply enjoy his presence, letting him fill me with his love?
I could keep going with examples of how God invites me to let go of my 'pacifiers' so he can fill me up with his goodness. He quietly whispers to my soul and yours, "you have to let go so I can give you something better."
What do you cling to that God asks you to release? If I, a sinful mother, won't leave my son hungry in the wee hours of the night, how much more will God satisfy our hunger, if we only let him?