The Joy I Was Too Busy to Receive: Releasing Hurry and Control
Listen Here
What if the joy you have been searching for has been there all along—but you have been too busy to receive it?
For most of this year, I didn’t understand how to receive joy. Receive was my word for the year, but it felt vague and almost fake. I knew I was supposed to receive God’s love, promises, peace, and everyday gifts. I simply didn’t understand what receiving actually looked like.
I was much more familiar with doing.
Working. Planning. Creating. Fixing. Striving. Trying to control the outcome.
I was always working to arrive somewhere—especially in my business. Busyness kept me moving, anxious hurry kept me looking ahead, and control kept me gripping the outcome.
Meanwhile, I was hurrying past the life God was already giving me.
When Anxious Hurry Replaces Faithful Work
I believe God gives us dreams and meaningful work to do. But I am learning that a God-given dream and the anxious hurry I attach to it are not the same thing.
A God-given dream invites faithful action. Anxious hurry tries to force the outcome.
My hurry cannot make something bear fruit before its season. It cannot guarantee success or prevent disappointment. It only causes me to rush through today while trying to reach the life I believe I should have tomorrow.
I can faithfully do the next thing God places before me without trying to control how quickly the dream grows or what it ultimately becomes.
Hurrying does not make God’s timing arrive faster.
Releasing Control to God
Reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp helped me recognize how tightly I had been holding my life.
I thought that gripping, planning, and anticipating every possible problem would protect me from disappointment. Perhaps I was even trying to protect my joy. But the very things I was doing to protect myself were keeping me from receiving the joy and peace I wanted.
A clenched hand cannot receive.
Busyness and hurry kept me from noticing joy.
Control kept me from experiencing peace.
An open hand allows me to receive both.
Releasing control to God doesn’t mean abandoning our dreams or becoming irresponsible. It means taking the next faithful step while entrusting the timing, growth, and outcome to Him.
How to Receive Joy Through Christian Gratitude
I am beginning to understand that receiving is not a feeling I have to manufacture. Receiving is a posture—an open hand and an attentive heart.
One simple Christian gratitude practice is helping the word receive become real to me: slowing down, opening my eyes, and putting descriptive words to God’s ordinary gifts.
Instead of merely saying, “Thank You for the sunset,” I can notice the streaks of blue and hot pink across the sky, the sliver of moon hanging nearby, and the peace that comes when I stand still long enough to see it.
Some of the gifts I have recently noticed include:
- Morning dew shimmering on the grass in the rising sun.
- A hummingbird resting on the feeder after sipping sweet sugar water.
- Wood from our 35-year-old deck becoming a beautiful pavilion ceiling.
- Gentle water flowing through our waterfall in the evening light.
- Warm water washing the grime of the day from my back.
- My littlest granddaughter wrapping her arms around my thigh while we worshipped together.
Putting descriptive words to a gift makes me linger with it. It brings the moment to life and allows it to reach me before I hurry into the next one.
Finding Joy and Peace in Ordinary Life
I am learning to recognize God’s gifts in my business too.
There is joy in a thrilled newlywed seeing her preserved bouquet.
There is joy in three people visiting my little lavender shop and taking home products created to bless them.
There is joy in a pruned lavender field entering its season of rest—and in three tiny lavender plants still growing.
There is joy in a website that is becoming more beautiful and true, and in finally understanding what my business is meant to be.
The things that haven’t happened yet do not have to steal the goodness from what is happening now.
Money, planning, and responsible work still matter. But I no longer want to hurry past today’s gifts while anxiously waiting for tomorrow’s results.
A Simple Practice to Help You Receive God’s Gifts
Maybe you have been too busy to receive joy too.
Today, try noticing just one gift.
Slow down and look closely. Put descriptive words to what you see, hear, feel, or experience. Thank God for it, and let the moment reach you before you hurry onward.
Then notice whether you are gripping an outcome. If you are, open your hand again. Take the next faithful step and release what comes next to God.
Joy is found in noticing the gift before us.
Peace is found in releasing our demand to control what comes next.
I haven’t mastered open-handed living. But today, my hand is a little more open than it was yesterday.
Reflection Questions
- Where has anxious hurry kept you from being present to the life God is giving you?
- What outcome are you gripping because you are afraid of what may happen if you let go?
- What ordinary gift can you notice, describe, and thank God for today?
- What is your next faithful step—and what part of the outcome do you need to release?
Until next time, friend—slow down, open your eyes, and receive the gift that is right in front of you.