You Know It Is Ok to be Happy, Right?

One very early morning, while I was still in bed sleeping, I got a conference emergency call for a project we were working on for LDW.

Got to love these moments.

After we got business out of the way, my great friend, who’s like a real sister to me told me about this guy who is going to propose to her. Now, I’ve been hearing about him for over a year. I finally met this guy, and I thought he’s really a wonderful man.

In the middle of a coughing fit, I managed to get my words out. “You need to stop this nonsense now and you need to say, Yes, to this man! Your just being really stupid! He’s a great guy. And you need to have a baby remember? Unless your going to tell me you no longer love him or that he’s a jerk. Say yes already and enjoy your life. Go.Go.Go.” Normally, I wouldn’t go there with people as marriage is a serious thing, but in this case, it was more of showing her where God’s faithfulness had brought her.

See, back in 2015, she and I sat before a majestic view, on one of the isoles in Venice, Italy, surrounded by water on all sides, and we had this conversation. I told her then, “Don’t jump just to any guy. Let that guy be THE GUY! Don’t entertain all guys. Your GUY will come and your heart will know it. This is what I’ll be praying for you!” Well, that amazing GUY was now here in front of her and I’m was excited for her and God’s promise to her.

I had to remind her it was okay to be Happy because she was giving me one ridiculous excuse after another. People, she tried to make sense, but she wasn’t. I told her, “Do you need to go back to school to get another Ph.D.? You make no sense at all!” She was literally talking herself out of an amazing life of love and commitment with a man that has done and would do anything for her. This man said yes to everything she asked. God is there a few more like him please? If I didn’t meet him myself I wouldn’t believe it. Since I had an opportunity to know him in the work place I knew he was a good man.

So what’s my point? We all do this. We need to stop, ask ourselves the hard questions, get answers for them, and then move forward without fear to receive our blessings. Blessings are to be taken. We just don’t talk about them tossing them up in the air. We must recognize them and then take them because they belong to us. “It’s Ok to be Happy!”

Walk with me down memory lane. God miraculously led the Israelites out of Egypt. He puts them on a journey, just two years after the exit. This journey had great purpose. It was filled with victories, freedoms, and deliverances. It was their journey to the Promised Land. What a journey! They were delivered from slavery and the task masters who would beat them daily, from a place of no freedom and no rest to a spacious place of their own. They were no longer slaves but free, the greatest blessing any nation or people would want and deserve.

God had given Moses His promise. “I will dwell among my people.” The reason God had told Moses to build the tabernacle. Imagine God Almighty leading His people to the promised land, and everywhere they went He would be among them-His protection, His direction, and His presence! He literally brought them to the very edge of the Promised Land. However, there was something they needed to do, and that was to go in and possess. They failed miserably. So very sad!

Moses sent the 12 spies to spy out the land. Upon the return only 2 of the 12 were ready to take over and possess the land God had led them to for over two years. Imagine poor Moses when the people refused the blessings. God’s anger burned, Folks. It burned. They had to stay put at the edge of that beautiful land because they refused to move forward. When they came to their senses it was too late. God had already made His judgment. God is still the same God. Be very careful you don’t refuse God’s gifts because some of them you might just not receive after all. God said, “You will not enter until the last one of this generation dies! You will die here. You will not possess the land because of your attitude.” Ok, that’s an ouch moment!

You realize they wondered around that mountain and until all the old generation died? They were left there just to see with their eyes the other side but never entering it. That’s a tragedy, Folks. They saw daily what they could have had for like 40 years! Torture is what that is. Well, at least for me that would be torture to know something was to be mine but ended up forfeiting it. God forbid!

As we know only the two men who had said we can go and possess the land got to enter. An entire generation lost it. They forfeited the promises of God out of pure stupidity and fear. Forgive me, but I can’t understand how. They watched the Red Sea open and cross on dry ground. That is a miracle in itself. You realize the bottom of the ocean isn’t dry. It’s mud. I run on the beach, and sometimes to get a better leg work out, I’ll run in the water. I only do this at beaches I know because I learned the hard way, sometimes the sand is a little to soft, and it’s easy to sprain your ankle. Can you understand why they should have done as in the past and trusted the leading of God? God had already proved He was trustworthy and faithful. They were favored by Him.

Listen, my message should be very clear today.

REFLECTION: "Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it...'" (Deuteronomy 1:8 NLT).

First, we need to understand the blessings are for the taking. Our taking! God brought them to the edge of the promise land. They had to go in and possess it. You and I have to do the same. God will bring us to our blessings, it’s up to us to go get it. Secondly, we must not be afraid. Fear cripples us. Yes, sure, I understand some things in life are a bit scary like marriage. I’ve seen and watched the devastation of bad marriages, but we can’t be so scared of commitment and the "what ifs" to stay stuck in the mud. We can’t allow ourselves to be brought to the edge of the blessing and then watch it from the other side of the mountain, desiring it, watching others receive it but then be too afraid to go get it. So we sit there until we die and never receive the blessings. Many people are in this position. The Israelites were thousands upon thousands in this story that lost their blessings. Third, the most difficult of all. Knowing that others in your group will receive what you should have received, too. Caleb and Joshua were exempt because they were the two of twelve spies that knew they could possess the land. There are lots upon lots of people at this place. You resent and even hate those of us that choose to do things God’s way. We obey and we get the blessings. It’s a no brainer.

I sure hope I’m communicating very well with you today. My beautiful friend, who will be reading this today, too, inspired this blog entry this morning. Look it, as I said to her today, “Don’t be foolish, go get your blessing. Stop talking yourself out of a beautiful gift. The gift of love and the promise for a lifetime.”

Friends, life is way too short. Don’t let anyone or any circumstance rob your blessings. Don’t watch it be given to someone else. Remember, It’s Ok to be Happy.”

Now Go. Go. Go!

Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You are the Giver of All Blessings! You are the Giver of True Joy, and You, O Lord, desire to bless Your children. Let me never be afraid to step into the Promised Land, but fill me with the strength to continue to with each step lodged in determination and persistence to take all You are giving me. Thank You for continually being my Guide and for being with me always. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Linda A. Knowles

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