Maria walked into the kitchen with her arms full of wrapped packages. As she struggled to lay down her load on the table all the packages tumbled to the floor. Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at the mess lying at her feet. For the first time she noticed that the wrapping on the packages were tattered and worn. Upon further inspection she saw that the bows were missing and the paper had worn through exposing the underlying box. Curious, she sat down and slowly began to rip off the old paper. On the top of one of the boxes “DREAMS” had been written in bold black letters. She quickly uncovered another box! This one had the word, “PLANS” written in distinctive letters across the top! She tore off the 3rd wrapping and found the same bold writing with the word, “HOPE”!
She had forgotten what was under the layer of paper, but now with it fully exposed she thought back to the day when she had confidently put the lid on each box. She remembered being filled with dreams, plans and hope for the future. She had an assignment by God to do His work. She had been so filled with joy and anticipation for whatever lay ahead. She carried those boxes everywhere she went and shared them with whoever the Lord laid on her heart! Ministry had never been so much fun then when she shared the vision of what God had given her! The excitement bubbled over to others. Soon women could be seen carrying their own beautifully wrapped packages. Maria marveled at what God was doing in His people.
Looking at the paper that was in shreds all around her, she realized that she had carried those packages through many seasons. She took the top off of the first box and found another word scrawled across the inside! Her hand flew to her mouth as she read, DISCOURAGEMENT! Trembling she opened the second box and look inside. Glaring back at her was the word FRUSTRATION! Hesitantly she reached for the 3rd. Inside she found ANGER! A soft scream escaped her mouth while hot tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “Lord, Help!” was all that she was able to say. Through the silence that followed was a quiet voice that beckoned to her, “Maria, will you surrender your dreams, plans and hopes to me?” “Lord!” she replied, “Those are the things YOU gave me! I’ve been faithful to carry them with me all these years!” “Yes, child, I did give them to you and you have been a good and faithful servant of mine! Will you give me your dreams, your plans and your hopes?” Maria looked at all that surrounded her! Memories flooded her mind and emotions surged in her heart. She realized that what had started out as something beautiful had somehow, somewhere, lost its luster. The tools inside the boxes had dissolved and turned into things she no longer wanted in her hands! Quickly she put the tops back on the boxes, picked them up and put them on the table. “Lord, I give them to you! All of them! All of my dreams for this ministry, all of my plans for this ministry and all of my hopes for this ministry! You can have them all!!!!! I surrender!!!”
After several minutes she heard a knock at the front door. Moving from her spot she dried her eyes and ran a hand over her hair. She took a deep breath and pulled the door open. She could barely believe her eyes as she looked down at her feet and saw three newly wrapped packages with bright shiny bows! They were beautiful!!!! She gathered them up in her arms and brought them inside. No one needed to tell her what was written across the top of each box! She already knew!
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
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