Discovering the POP in a pop gun

It’s been over a year since Papa and Nana bought an antique toy at the Yankee Craft Shop up in Sudbury. My sweet grandson didn’t remember what it could do, because it hasn’t worked properly since it was brand new. Perhaps his parents allowed it to remain jammed so the noise wouldn’t wake the baby or scare her in her infancy. But today I addressed the question, what good is a pop gun that doesn't go POP?

I loosened the cork and worked it a few times and showed Judah how to do it. He was squealing with delight at the sound and ran all around the house popping at stuffed animals and toys.

We made a great game of it. There’s a wild elephant! Pop it! There’s a roaring lion! Scare him away! A truck pulled into the driveway to pick up the dumpster and that quickly became a charging rhinoceros. Pop it! Judah was so happy with the discovery that this beat up old toy now had an exciting new purpose.

Just the way he held it and looked at it reflected his amazement. “This is COOL!” were about the best words he could rally at the moment, but I knew exactly what he meant.

There’s nothing like the satisfaction of finding out what you can do. When something that was lying around or sitting on the shelf, suddenly becomes useful and productive in some way, the joy makes it feel brand new. Wow! There is the joy of discovery, or of re-discovering things you thought you would never know again. This is sheer delight.

Maybe after an illness or long stretch of unemployment someone is able to go back to work and church and community. Perhaps a run-away teenager goes back home and discovers a new sense of belonging. Maybe after a difficult relationship, someone finds true love again. After an operation, a blind man sees for the first time or following a near-fatal accident, a crippled woman learns to walk again. Is there anything quite like that joy?

Are there areas in your life that you feel the Lord could never use or redeem? Maybe there are skills you dreamed of using but discarded long ago. Was there a failure in your past that you are allowing to stand in your way? God is able to open closed doors. Trust Him.

Whatever it is that you may have forgotten, the Lord is able to pick that up and show you how to find the joy of popping again. The Lord makes all things new. Isn’t that cool?

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