“Every good and perfect gift is from above,” James 1:17a
Perfect Gifts
Making a Christmas wish-list was always exciting when I was a child. I remember thumbing page by page through the Sears Toy Catalog and circling item after item I wanted and hoped to find under the tree.
That long list of wants has grown noticeably shorter the older I get. In fact, this year I was hard pressed to think of anything I needed. That didn’t stop my family from giving generously, though. I recently posted about the wonderful, unexpected present they gave me (a Bird Buddy) which I not only enjoy immensely, but more importantly, it’s a gift that shows they know and love me well.
It is for those very same reasons that these days, I really look forward most to opening the special treats my young grandsons pick out and wrap up on their own just for me. They’ve chosen things for my love of art, dry MiMi skin, and this year a notebook (because I was a teacher and love to write) and pretty dish towels that have a bicycle with a basket on them that looks just like mine.Yes, being known and loved results in receiving the most perfect gifts. Don’t you agree?
Why is it then, that I sometimes question what I receive from God? He is the One who knows me (us) best and offers gifts with the greatest love; so how can I think they are anything less than perfect?
“O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!”
Psalm 139:1-4,6 (NLT)
God knows EVERYTHING about us. He knows us better than we know ourselves, His love is more than we can comprehend, and yet, when those items I have on my prayer-list aren’t delivered in the way I’d hoped, I question God’s choices for me. Maybe you’ve done that, too.
When we’re offered a different job than the one we really wanted, that relationship we long for doesn’t happen, our plans change and take us where we never imagined we would be, or a multitude of other things we’re given in this life, can leave wondering why we’ve received the “white elephant” instead of the “special treat” we’d expected.
Here’s the thing: all the situations listed above are not just gifts, but the most perfect gifts I have received from God. Every teaching job I tried for was a dead end except Circleville School which was NOT on my wish-list. I’d given up on finding “the one” and then met him the first week after moving to rural West Virginia where I’d never considered going. The result? A better life than I could ever imagine. Did I recognize them as perfect gifts in the moment? Definitely not. Do I know now, without a doubt, that I’m known and loved well by the Father? Definitely! I have to be honest, sometimes I have trouble remembering it. I guess I’m still a work in progress. You too?
The truth is, the long list of wants I’ve had for my life is growing shorter the older I become AND the more I get to know the Giver. In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of much I need that He hasn’t already given. Yes, being known and loved truly does result in receiving the most perfect gifts! Don’t you agree?
“Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!”
2 Corinthians 9:15 (NLT)