If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:13)
I am really only starting to understand what it means for a Father to give good gifts. I think that I understand this, but then something happens in my life to challenge me to question my perception.
I was talking to a friend recently about life and he pointed out some of his experiences with his kids. He gave the example of pulling his boys out of a pool before they got too tired. The boys responded thinking that he was punishing them, that he didn’t want them to have fun. But in reality, he was looking out to their best interest. As a father, his perspective was his boys and their safety. He was guiding them and bringing boundaries that protected them so that they would continue to be able to have fun and enjoy the rest of the day.
He explained that there are times when his boys do things that are inappropriate and wrong. That because they are the age they are the often lack judgment to make certain decisions. However, because he is a father and he loves his kids, this doesn’t change how he thinks of them. He still loves them. Even though they do the things that they aren’t supposed to.
In the context of my life, the phrase kept on coming to mind: “the Father longs to give good gifts.”
That God our heavenly father is able to give good gifts beyond the ability of our earthly father’s. But more than that, I felt my own understanding of what God’s gifts look like being challenged.
I have a dad who loves to give gifts. This doesn’t always look like the good gifts that I want and I don’t always recognize them for what they are. For example, I would love for my dad to pay off my student loan, but he hasn’t done that. On the other hand, while I was in school I took my car in to get fixed. There was a miscommunication, and they misquoted me on the bill and somehow the cost was more than I could afford. I phoned my dad and he paid the bill, without hesitation or question. The fact was that I had made an error in judgment, made a mistake, but he rescued me.
Now, I didn’t recognize that as a gift. Yes, I wanted my car to run properly. But I thought of that as bailing me out. Not as a gift, and rather than being happy and pleased that my father was able to help me and show grace. I was actually mad. Mad that I had messed up. Mad that I had to ask for help. Mad that I wasn’t independent.
But, in reality he gave a good gift.
God is also my Father, My heavenly one. And he also gives good gifts. But I don’t see them for what they are.
I want things like to be 100% debt free. But in reality, I have the resources to pay my bills on time. That is a good gift.
My perception has been challenged once again to consider what a Good Gift looks like. Ephesians 2:8 explains that salvation is a gift of God, given freely to us not by our own doing, by God’s grace.
The reality is that God’s definition of a good gift is a lot different than mine. God’s desire is to give me gifts that bring life and fulfill the desires that he created me to have. God’s definition of a good gift is not material, but immaterial.
The bible says that, “you do not have, because you do not ask.” It explains that when we do ask we are doing so out of a wrong motivation. That we look to fulfill our own passions, not our desires. We ask because we are proud and want to look good to the world. There are so many times that I’m conflicted by my own desires. I’ve been asking God why I they aren’t filled. But I’ve missed one small but significant point: God wants to fulfill our desires.
Instead of asking him if the desire is wrong, and if that is why it isn’t fulfilled. I simply need to ask him. It’s so incredibly simple that I completely missed the point: if my desire is to be free from depression, I simply need to ask that God would free me from my depression. If my desire is for relationship, I simply need to ask for someone to have relationship with. Asking for my desire to be fulfilled is quite vague, non-specific. It’s like asking an earthly father for the world, and of course He would give you a globe.
2010/08/30 at 22:40
This reminds me of something else that keeps knocking me upside the head: When blind Bartimaeus called out, “Jesus! Son of David!!! Have mercy on meeeeeee…..!” Jesus didn’t leap into action. He didn’t come on all superman-like and say, “here joe, have some new eyes.”
Rather, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Bartimaeus could have said, “I’m hungry.” “Tell the world to stop picking on me.” “I could use a camel.” “I would like a new mat.” Any number of things. But with God’s intent being to use him as an example, faith rose up in him and he said, “I would like to see.”
The rest is history.
So… some would say that asking God for specific things is the same as directing how you want God to answer your prayers. I submit that asking for a specific what still leaves room for God to choose how. Or if even.
Back to motivation. I don’t know why we get all fussed about it. By thinking that we can muster up the right motivation to get God to answer our prayer is to put us into his position. Whoops. Wrong answer.
I saw an example tonight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. One of the challenges Indy faced was that “only the penitent can enter the holding place of the holy grail.” As he thought about what it meant to be “penitent,” a light clicked on and he thought, “KNEEL!”
So he did. Then giant blades swooped by that would have severed his head had he remained upright.
The moral is, life ain’t like in the movies. We can’t guess what God wants, do it, and expect stuff. At the same time, we can’t enter into God’s presence without expecting something. I think Christians live a wonderfully paradoxical life.
-Tony