God gives good gifts.
My mom graciously gifted the kiddos a jump house for Christmas. It has been one of the best gifts they have received, hands down, next to the swing set Penny got for her second birthday from my aunt. The kiddos have played endlessly this year throughout the superfluous winter rain and the blazing summer heat. It has been the perfect inside energy outlet for them, bouncing away the morning and in to afternoons, while I finish dishes or drink my coffee or play mama monster alongside them, chasing them around it.
God has reminded me about his good gifts over the course of the year. As we took a step out in faith and moved to a new town, in to a house we had not seen until the keys were just about in our hands, God said he only gives good gifts. As my mom questioned whether it would smell like cigarettes or what the condition of the carpets would be and I wondered about the exact layout, God kindly assured me he only gives good gifts. When we walked through the doors of the home for the first time, I nearly cried as it was practically the exact layout I nonchalantly prayed months earlier for, at the mere idea of moving - not thinking it would be anytime soon. It was the layout of the last home my family had lived in before my parents went their separate ways. It was open and spacious with plenty of room for the kiddos to run and play and eventually hold the jump house. Another good gift.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11
As we enter in the season of thanksgiving and gift giving and start thinking about what we should tuck under our Christmas trees and what we would benefit from receiving, there is a sweet reminder of hope that has been poured in to our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), one the best gifts we have received. The truth and comfort and freedom that we find in the Holy Spirit through the power of God, after Jesus rose from the grave and went to be with seated at the right hand of God, is nothing short of spectacular.
A friendship that is covered in grace and presses us deeper in to the very heart of God.
Praying that whatever trials or circumstances you are facing that you would know that God only gives good gifts; knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame (Romans 5:3-5).
Originally posted in The Inspire Monthly newsletter, November 2017.