Gifts

                I love giving gifts.  I love spending time picking something out for someone I care about.  Several years ago I went through the Love Languages book by Gary Chapman and, no surprise, gifts was one of my top 2 love languages (the other one high up on the list was words of affirmation).  Now before you misunderstand, I am not a high maintenance person who expects fancy expensive gifts from my husband and others.  No, quite the opposite.  I love a simple hand written card, homemade gift, or just when my husband thinks of me and gives me an unexpected Dr. Pepper from the gas station.  The thing I love about gifts is knowing that someone was thinking about me.  I am all about the thought process behind the gift.  However, the emotional side of gift giving can be a hard thing to swallow when I happen to give someone a gift they don’t like or is not exactly what they were hoping for.  Over the years, I have had a few of those gifts that kind of just a flop. 

I remember my first married Christmas when I bought something for my husband that I thought he really wanted, only to get a hesitant “thanks” when he opened it.  Now don’t get me wrong, he did appreciate the gift, however, it wasn’t exactly the brand that he was wanting because I am sometimes too much of a bargain shopper and got him the cheaper version.  The thing you must know is that when it comes to love languages, gifts is one of the lowest for my husband so he doesn’t always think about the back story and thought process behind the gift.  There have been other times when I gave a gift to someone that I had spent a lot of time picking out or making, and never even received a thank you.  That can be frustrating and sometimes can cause disappointment for a person like me.

Matthew 7:9-11 (NLT) says, “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  This got me to thinking about how often I have not been grateful for the gifts in my life.  How many times in our lives have we received a blessing, maybe a new job we had prayed for, healthy children, or simply a roof over our head and food in our belly, and not given thanks for it?  I know, for me at least, it has been far more often than I care to admit.  I sometimes get my feelings hurt when others are ungrateful, how must it grieve God every single day when we don’t even acknowledge the things He has done for us? We are told “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT). 

God is a wonderful gift giver, although, unlike us as parents sometimes, he gives us exactly what we need and not always what we want.  He is patient with us when we unwrap the gift to simply utter an insincere “thanks”.  He knows how even though it may not look like it, the lost job, missed promotion, or unfulfilled dream, are simply stepping stones to get us to where we are called to be. “Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! Truly I am God, I have no peer; I am God, and there is none like me, who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’” Isaiah 46:9-10 (NET).  I love that.  When I get discouraged because of my immediate circumstances, I try to remember that He knows the end from the beginning.  He sees when the right turn I am wanting to take through what looks like a field of beautiful flowers, is actually a steep cliff in just a few feet.  I don’t know about you, but I want to submit to that, be thankful, and trust that He really does have a divine plan for my life.

“For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you call out to me and come to me in prayer, I will hear your prayers. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul, I will make myself available to you,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will reverse your plight and will regather you from all the nations and all the places where I have exiled you,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring you back to the place from which I exiled you.’” Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NET, Emphasis mine).