God gives us gifts; He showers us with them throughout all our lives. The Bibe says that every good and perfect gift comes from God. There are gifts that are easy to recognize, like family (hopefully), friends, a job perhaps, and most of all that Jesus died for us. These tell me that God cares about the big stuff in my life.
I
have always been reluctant to ask God for what I consider "frivolous"
things. Back where I used to live, there was never any parking by our
apartment. We paid for a parking pass which didn't give you a spot but
let you park without getting a ticket. One day, I was trying to find a
spot. I was so fed up with it, and I was venting to God. Just as I
pulled into another aisle, there it was, the best parking spot
available! I was so ready to pass it off as chance, but I had to stop
and think that God can't get much more direct than to answer my prayer
very obviously while I'm praying it. I think all too many times I
attribute things to chance or luck while all the time discrediting God
for the gift he just gave me. These gifts show me that God cares even
about the "dumb" little things in my life.
Then there are gifts we don't even know about. Like
maybe someone just ran a red light that you would've crossed, yet you
left your house a little late because you couldn't find your keys. We
usually have no clue about gifts like these except maybe every once in
a while. One night I was driving home late, and I had just got on the
freeway. There was a car behind me, and within a few minutes he lost
control of the car. If I had got on the freeway a few seconds later, I
would have been in a bad accident (luckily the other driver was ok).
Again, my first reaction was that I was "lucky", but on second thought,
maybe it was God. These gifts show me that God protects me and
orchestrates things in my life even if I'm not aware of them.
Finally, God gives us the gift of hardships. Have you
ever asked for patience? If you have, then you probably know (and
possibly regret!) that usually to become more patient, you have to go
through things that make you mad and impatient so that you can grow. In
the same way, hardships force us to grow. When I was 12, my friend
died. I surely didn't think of that as a gift then, and I am still
hesitant to. But from this produced in me such faith in God and a
maturity in me. I had to rely on God though desperate sadness, and I
learned to cling to hope in the bleakest of moments. This has helped me
in other hardships after the loss of my friend that I might not have
fared so well if I didn't have that foundation. Paul says that we are
to have joy in suffering, and though I never want to leap for joy
during my hardships, I know that there is hope in the midst of them,
which gives me peace. I believe that God cares about my growth as a
person, and he helps make me grow by allowing me to go through
hardships. It might not seem like a gift, but the results do in
retrospect.
God gives us so much! What are the obvious gifts
he gives you? What are the seemingly small gifts? What are the things
that we attribute to luck or chance? What has He produced in us through
hardships?
- Jennifer Sterrett
Comments