Good Gifts

A Not So Helpful Samaritan

At dusk I drove along a large curve on a road on the outskirts of town. A nervous feeling in my stomach twisted and turned. The area was not the safest, so having a car following me for a couple of miles had me concerned. My friend in the passenger seat had also taken notice of this car following close behind.

We turned into the cemetery where we were going to put flowers on my dad’s grave. Going along the gravel driveway, I notice the car turned in behind us. Neither of us wanted to get out of the car. While trying to decide what we should do, the driver got out of his car and walked over to us with determination. He was flustered, to say the least. With raised voice and arms waving, he asked, “What does it take to tell you that you have a flat tire!”

In my anxiety about someone following, I never noticed he was trying to get my attention. I thought to myself, if he was this upset, why did he bother to keep following. He then did nothing to help. He huffed, got back in his car, and left us in the hot, mosquito infested cemetery.

This did not seem like a biblical illustration at the time, but as I read about our next letter, I was back in that gray Honda Civic, wondering who was pursuing me.

God Pursues Us

The third letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the Gimel ג. It has the value of three and said to look like a man running. The best part is that it represents God running after us. So, like the man who saw my need for a new tire, God sees our need, even when we might not, and pursues us to meet our needs.

“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.”

~Matthew 7:11 NLT

God Give Us Good Gifts

What are they? The scripture above follows where Jesus teaches us to ask, seek, and knock. Many commentators agree that these good gifts result from our prayers. They might not be exactly what we asked for, but they are what we need.

I go back again to my story of the man following me and I think about the ways he tried to get my attention, yet I was so blinded by my fear that I missed his efforts. It makes me wonder how many times I may move in a certain direction, praying all the way, but still allowing fear, doubt, and insecurities to get in my way. They blind me to what God is trying to do.

Blinded By My Desires

Before we moved from Texas to Florida, our house had been on the market for eighteen months. These were eighteen very long months. We had a five, three, and one-year-old and had to have the house clean every time the realtor called. We had put the house on the market to change schools for our daughter. I did everything to get that house to sell. But nothing.

At one point, thirteen houses in our neighborhood were for sale and every one of them sold except ours. It made no sense. I felt forgotten by God. I could not understand why He would not let us move.

The desire to move blinded me to what God was doing. At the end of the eighteen months, the realtor called to tell us she was going to show the house again. My husband and I were at work, the kids were in school or at babysitters, and the house was an absolute mess. Toys were everywhere and I am sure there was peanut butter on the walls. No one would want to buy the house the way it looked.

The realtor called us the next day to tell us the house sold, which happened to be the same day a church in Orlando, Florida called and offered my husband a job. God knew what He was doing all along, and I needed to trust the process. The gift we received by moving to Florida was life-changing.

God pursues us. Even when we don’t know we need Him. He hears our prayers, but He knows what is best. I knew what I wanted, but His plan was so much better.

"God pursues us. Even when we don’t know we need Him. He hears our prayers, but He knows what is best. I knew what I wanted, but His plan was so much better." #prayer Click To Tweet

Giving And Receiving

The Gimel ג also represents giving and receiving. When God gives us these beautiful gifts, they are to grow the kingdom. So what will you do with these gifts? We should not cling to them, but pay them forward.

How can you use the gifts God has given you? The greatest gift is the gift of salvation. We are not to receive it and hold on to it; we are to share the joy and hope of this message with as many others as possible.

It is often through the hard moments of life when these gifts come in perfect timing and we cannot help but share them. I know since I have experienced healing; I want to pray for and with as many people as possible. I want others to experience it.

Those who have experienced deliverance from addiction, oppression or other demonic holds they cannot wait to share their freedom in Christ with others.

What good gifts have you received?

I would love for you to take some time to make a list of some of these good gifts God has given you. What were you praying for and what gift did He give you? Then what have you done with that gift? Did you pay it forward? If not, how can you? I would love to hear your stories. Share them in comments.

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