Gift Receipt

When I get a gift, I get distracted by the look of it -- the colors, patterns, shine, and the ribbon handles. It's just so pretty, so fun. And so I linger. 

Soon, someone is saying: "Just open it!"

And I tend to collect those gift bags.

I stash them away, and I keep them so long. When an occasion presents itself, I pull them all out and look them all over. I wonder when and if the clutter will prove useful.

The difficulties of 2018 were gift bags for me. No, not so pretty, not so fun. But still I linger.

The look of things has been so distracting. My memories are colored by every disappointing circumstance. My mind has grown weary as the pattern of troubles has extended, becoming repeating and increasing trials. My energy has dimmed, and I've fumbled in trying to handle so much of what came my way.

I stash it away; who wants to hear about all that? And I wonder how any of this will prove useful.

But then I wonder: Am I forgetting to pull out the gifts that those circumstances brought?

Having more than I could handle in each day, means that I've received a daily delivery -- primed awareness of God's sovereignty. When I could not take another step forward, I've paused long enough to speak and cry out to God. What I could not lift, I handed over.

When I had so many overwhelming tasks, God reminded me to let Him overwhelm me more: His love, His faithfulness, His might, His wisdom, His ways.

I love to celebrate the small gift, like the Christmas card I got from a student who actually wrote a personal message. And I have to remember to share the huge gifts: my receipt of God's omnipotent Presence, and His loving personal message for each day. I receive them in prayer, as I drive down the street; in opening my Bible, as I unwrap God's promises tagged just for me; in praise, as my wail of frustration becomes a hymn pouring out my heart.

My abundant need has been met by these abundant gifts, and I need to put them to use, telling everyone I know how good God has been to me -- how He's been so good. I need to keep my gifts on display, because their beauty outshines their packaging.

My gift bags have a corner; they don't need ongoing inspection. When it's useful, I can speak to someone's circumstances, to their baggage, because I can share the gift I've received. I've been encouraged to encourage; I've been strengthened to strengthen.

When I submit to God's will that we do so daily -- slowing down long enough for a smile, a word of praise -- I can't always track how the Holy Spirit delivers that comfort. I don't know how it will be received.

But I do know that every good and perfect gift comes from God. I don't want to overlook anything God sends my way, and I pray for God to clear the clutter.

The Sharpest Sword

I had seen what it could do. Now it was my turn.

We were at a festival that celebrates the Renaissance period of history, with food and events that match the theme. While chewing on a huge turkey leg and watching a jousting match, we'd gotten a fresh surge of energy, and now we were exploring the shops.

My husband had admired the range of swords, and a worker at the shop invited him to try out his favorite. Behind the shop were bundles of reeds standing up in water barrels. They'd been soaked overnight, and the thick bundles were now dense and heavy.

First, the shop worker took aim. And swung, slicing in one steady, fluid movement. He showed us the swiftly dissected bundle, and reviewed what made the sword so effective and efficient. After giving us a lesson on careful use, he then handed it off to my husband, who readily did the same.

Now I had the sword in my hand.

I'd been fed. I'd been taught. The sword was sharper than we could have imagined. All I had to do was understand what it could do, and then choose to use it.

There's a sword that is so sharp it can divide bone and marrow, soul and spirit. You have this sword. And it's been placed in your hand.

You'll want to be fed first. The good news is that God's Word is a sword, and at the same time, God's Word is a daily bread. You'll want to be fed with that daily bread. Meaning that you'll want to taste and see that the Lord is good, first sampling what God has to say to you, and then coming to savor it. And then, when you're ready to read more than a verse or two, and begin to choose larger portions, you'll want to sit down to make a meal of it, and then another. You'll become filled with His love and His wisdom for your life. And you'll realize with each meal that the joy of the Lord is your strength.

You'll want to be taught. You can get a lesson on careful use of the word of God, if you seek a conversation with God.

Your prayers may begin with seeking God's intervention in the circumstances of your life.

As you pray, you will want to remember how God has already intervened in your life, and take time to be thankful. Not only will gratitude honor God as He is due, but thankfulness will renew your mind as to what God can and will do.

As you recall what God can do, God can reveal to you that what He has done reflects who He really is. As you seek to give God a role in your life, God can help you recognize that His role reaches beyond intervention, to sovereignty; that God was meant to be Lord of your life.

And as you realize, in greater and greater detail, who He really is, you realize that all of what He is, is what you need and want most. Realizing that God himself is what your heart is missing, your prayers can then become about seeking His presence – God himself.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 KJV

Understand that God's Word can divide soul and spirit – defining your spirit as your truest self, which is restored fully by your saving faith in Him; and defining your soul as your mind and emotions. Just as marrow gives life and function to the body's joints, your thoughts and feelings were never meant to reign over your life, but to be given life and function by your spirit. Your soul, which needs daily healing and restoration, needs to be led by your spirit, which is the essential innermost substance of your existence. And your spirit by faith has a perfect connection to the perfect leadership of God's Holy Spirit.

In Ezekiel 37, a prophet in ancient Israel shares his vision of what God will do with His people regardless of what state they are in. He gave an eyewitness account of divine restoration far beyond human capacity when God restored dry bones, in a valley of death. In Psalm 23, another prophet named David shares the relationship with God that preserved him and his life, regardless of the valleys he walked through. Here I share my witness to what God can do. I relay to you that hope is never lost, when you place your hope in God.

What happened when it was my turn with the sword? I said I was ready. And I focused – more on what I had learned, than on what was before me.

I took aim, and sliced steady. The bundle fell to the sharp sword.

Take your turn.