Cracker Jack

Oh bliss. Unfold the foil-lined paper wrapper, peel up the grey flaps of the cardboard Cracker Jack box and you were in for a treat. Candy coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize, that’s what you got in Cracker Jack. Buried somewhere in there was a small sealed white packet with a secret prize inside. I don’t remember being especially fond of candied popcorn, but it was worth getting through it to find the prize nestled deep in the box among crumbs of broken popcorn and bits of peanuts.

One summer I scored big. The holy grail of Cracker Jack prizes was mine. The space age had dawned and we were trying to send a man to the moon, of all places. Even little kids like me could sense the excitement of the race into space. I carefully tore open the prize packaging. It revealed a tiny Apollo style rocket with a spring loaded launcher. Place the rocket on the launcher, depress a tiny red plastic handle, release, and the rocket went soaring. Wow.

I took the little rocket in the palm of my hand everywhere, including the beach. I think I was still wearing tank swimsuits with ruffles on the backside. I rode in the back of the station wagon admiring my toy. When we arrived at the beach I sat far back away from the surf, near the grasses in the dunes, and I launched the rocket over and over. I finally got so hot that I went swimming. But first I took the treasure to a blanket and placed it safely among family beach fodder. The refreshing gentle waves and seaweeds moving in the tide stole my attention.

When we got home, the rocket was nowhere to be found. I was heartsick. The next day I insisted we go back to the same beach access and I looked for hours for the tiny rocket and launch pad. It was never found. Not only that, but no future Cracker Jack boxes yielded another rocket with launcher for me. Although the longing consumed me, my desperate search was fruitless. Today I even searched eBay looking for a picture of that sweet little toy and it was just like looking for it among those zillion grains of sand. Gone forever.

As an adult, other prizes have come into my life only to be lost for various reasons. Ultimately I have to come to a place in my heart where I accept the loss and see God’s merciful plan at work. Sometimes it takes me a long time to release my desires to the dunes. This is particularly true when one of my children is suffering. I want to make it better right away. I want to issue Mom’s four step solution and force circumstances to quickly resolve. But God is working, shaping, molding, wooing. My best for those kids pales in comparison to God’s perfect plan.

You know, I ended up with some far more fascinating toys than that cheap little rocket. Isn't that like Jesus? Just when we surrender our plan and our expectations....BAM, something more amazing than we could have imagined is in our laps. Bill Gothard calls this the death of a vision. Abraham expected all of his hopes and dreams to be fulfilled in Isaac. Then God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, to slay him on an altar. After Abraham surrendered his hopes and vision to God, God resurrected the vision and fulfilled the promise.

Learning to include surrender in our prayers is liberating. If we cling to our own agenda, we are limiting God’s power in our lives. We are heaping God’s heavy responsibilities on ourselves. We are settling for Cracker Jack prizes when the riches of God’s kingdom, peace that passes understanding and rivers of joy are waiting.