Recognizing God’s Gifts
New Year’s Beginning
A new year has begun. What will the next twelve months hold for us? Change for the good? Hard times? Routine days? We won’t know until the end of December all that we will experience in the fifty-two weeks ahead. What we know for certain is that God will walk with us. He will sustain us through His love and power.
Y2K
It doesn’t seem too long ago that we faced the year 2000, with predictions of the world falling apart as we knew it. I remember celebrating with a group of good friends on December 31st, 1999. Some of the children in attendance had heard the predictions and expressed anxiety as the clock approached twelve AM. Adults also wondered what might happen, but didn’t express it as freely as the children did.
Midnight came and went that Y2K night and the world kept on turning. None of the predictions became reality. And God was faithful each of the days that followed. His love remained steadfast. His mercies didn’t come to an end. They were new each morning, even when we didn't recognize Him at work.
Listing God’s Gifts
I have made it a habit for over almost twenty years to end my day listing God’s gifts to me. I began the routine so that I might find God’s love and care for me. Previously, when life brought challenges, I interpreted them to mean that God abandoned me and I was alone. Or that He cared for others more than me. I needed practice in recognizing His personal attention.
Listing God’s gifts was more than creating a gratitude list. I didn’t only need to grow in gratitude for what God gave me. I needed a step before that. I needed to recognize that God gave me gifts at all. When you have a belief system that says you have to do everything right in order for God to be happy with you and you know you don’t do everything right, it can feel defeating. If life is hard, it can seem difficult to find the gifts.
I recorded gifts, great and small, that spoke to me of God’s unique care for me. I might note seeing a palo verde tree in spring’s full bloom, hearing my daughter laugh a belly laugh, smelling lavender scented soap, tasting roasted vegetables fresh from the oven, spending time with a safe and trusted friend, or singing an old hymn whose words mean more as I mature in faith. Pondering these gifts at day’s end enabled me to gain a fresh perspective.
God’s Gifts Reveal Him
As I grew in the ability to recognize God’s personal care for me, I often felt like a spoiled child who received more gifts at Christmas than they could enjoy. I began to realize that God had lavishly loved me all along. Every day. Every week. Every month. Every year. It humbled and freed me.
Noting God’s gifts to me extended beyond knowing His love for me. They demonstrated His faithfulness, mercy, and grace. They revealed His character. When we are confident of God’s personal care for us, we begin to see Him fully for who He is. It allows us to rest in His presence because He is safe.
God’s greatest gift of salvation from sin overshadows all other gifts. It is an everlasting gift that cannot be taken away. It gives us hope for today, tomorrow, and all eternity, offered to the whole world. All glory to Him for His lavish and steadfast love for us.
Lamentations 3:22-23 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
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