I have a Bible verse posted on my dryer. Yes, it’s a strange place, but a friend gave me a great idea when she said she stuck verses all over her house.
So I, being a great sharer of good ideas, set about to post some Bible verses around the house to inspire me, uplift me or even convict me. (It works).
The other day, one particular verse got me thinking about wrapping paper and packages. “Every good and perfect gift is from above...” (James 1:17)
I never gave the verse much serious thought until now. I just assumed God gives good gifts. And while I wouldn’t disagree with that statement now, I started thinking about what kind of packages some of those gifts come wrapped in.
I’m convinced that whoever said good things come in small packages never gave birth to a 10-pound baby. What might have appeared to be a small package really wasn’t and I don’t remember being particularly happy during its delivery.
It’s tough when you find something inside a package that isn’t all that great. Some gifts are like an ugly sweater you get for Christmas that you’d rather return or better yet donate to the Salvation Army. Or a cookbook when you really hate to cook. Or maybe a blender, now there’s a gift that doesn’t get used much. (At least not at our house).
And often, it doesn’t help to think, “It’s the thought that counts.” At least that one doesn’t work with me. If God gives me a gift and it comes in an extra-large, pain-inducing package, I might ask, “What was He thinking?”
But see that’s the point. Those gifts are so very, very deceiving.
We don’t always figure out a gift’s value right away. If it’s something we’ve desperately wanted, we recognize its worth almost immediately. But, sometimes, like that blender, it sits on a shelf for three years before you take it down and realize it’s just THE thing for making a raspberry shake.
Sometime, gifts are wrapped in a fabulous package - ribbons, bows, a funny card and all - but inside you find a set of hair clippers (I actually got that for Valentine’s Day one year).
Sometimes, gifts come in a rather homely package, wrapped in last Sunday’s comics or even a brown paper bag. A gift wrapped like that might not appear to be worth much. I might not even consider it a “gift.”
If God places a disagreeable person in my life, maybe that’s really a gift in disguise teaching me tolerance. If the kids are acting up, maybe that’s a gift teaching me patience. If I experience a loss, it might just be a gift that helps me to be compassionate. A financial struggle might be a gift teaching me to be frugal and to budget so I can be a good steward with the things I do have.
Some of the things God gives us just don’t come wrapped in pretty paper and tied with a nice big bow. Sometimes they come in what seems like a big trash bag, garbage and all. It’s up to us to sort through and find the gem hidden there.
Maybe I should be a little more willing to look for the silver tissue paper lining the package. Either God thinks I’m physically capable of handling more than I thought I could or maybe (yikes) he’s preparing me for something bigger.
Hopefully that won’t be another 10-pound bundle.
