A woman at a retreat in New Jersey was at a very happy time in her life: her children were little and adorable, her husband loved her, they had money enough, and health. So what was her problem? Well, when things are so good, and when you see others around you, no more or less deserving, who suffer, then you become fearful “waiting for the other shoe to drop,” as she put it.

I understand that fear. Do I trust God’s gifts, or do I wonder if they are a set-up for a fall? We are always reminded that God is not a “tame” Lion. Is it quite safe, then, to be happy when something good comes our way?

Today I am blissful about a wonderful thing God has brought into my life. Do I dare give myself over to its full enjoyment, or will I be put to shame, even as I am in the midst of praising God for it?

The Proverb says “Guard your heart” (4:23) — but, surely, not against God! Surely it means against temptations of various kinds. It cannot be that God’s gifts are Trojan horses, not “the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:16). Everything that your eyes can recognize as a “good gift” (v.16) is a good gift, so “do not be deceived” (v.16) to think otherwise. Enjoy with abandon your little children, your house, and the spouse the Lord has given you. And if the Lord sees fit to send a time of suffering by and by, there will be grace aplenty for that too.