The Art of Accepting a Gift…
As some of you know, I have the privilege of working with some amazingly talented and wise folks over at Centricity Music. Below is a post written by John Mays (VP/A&R) for his church’s website (www.fellowshipnashville.org). This really spoke to me in a big way and I wanted to make sure to pass this along to you as well. Perhaps some of you will find some encouragement here. Happy reading my friends!!!
I heard a story once about a guy who was wearing one of those big Panama straw hats. A stranger saw him and asked where he had gotten it, adding that he had always wanted a hat like that. The owner of the hat (let’s call him Jim) promptly removed the hat saying “Here, take it, it’s yours.” The stranger (let’s call him Bob) went into the typical stammering and stuttering saying “Oh no! I didn’t mean I wanted YOURS! I was just curious as to where you purchased it since I’ve always thought I would like one.”
Jim was relentless in his generosity and after a few rounds of “here take it!” – “oh no I just couldn’t.”, finally said “Look, I’d love to give you this hat but the only way it can be yours is if you’re willing to to just take it.” Finally Bob could no longer resist, but with his hand on the brim and his voice low said “OK, but I’d really rather pay for it.”
I know it’s sort of goofy, but that story had a huge impact on me. It helped to expose the lie in my life that kept me believing that eventually, I could do enough, work enough, behave enough to earn this gift of grace. That surely there must be a role for me to play in deserving my own redemption. And of course, the harder I tried, the more I labored, the more shame I felt that it was never enough. And sure enough, it never was, nor would it ever have been. As Fredrich Buechner named it, God brought me to my own “magnificent defeat”.
While reading the last few verses of 1st Thessalonians, the truth about this was brought home when Paul sort of settled the argument in verse 24 with the statement “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass”. Wow. Paul doesn’t leave much room for us in there does he? It’s Him. It’s ALL Him. I’m SO grateful the verse doesn’t read “… and you must bring it to pass”, or your pastor must or your spouse or any body else on earth. He started this good work, and He’s absolutely committed to it’s completion (Phil. 1:6). Even for those of us who’d really rather pay for it.
So now we live between the beginnings and completions of our own faith stories. In process? Yep. Messy? Big time. Imperfect? You think?! But the Spirit is at work in us, bringing life to this truth, and the only reaction left to us is… response. With humility and gratitude, we respond in love, in service, in worship, in good works, in giving our lives away. Not because we’d really rather pay for it, but because He already did.
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“God has Promised He will never leave us,
We must have Faith and Trust in Him;
What He has Promised He will do,
If we follow Him, He will lead us from sin.
Without Faith, it’s impossible to please God,
That would be a sad situation to be in;
Today, in Faith, we need to make Him our choice,
Then, some day, we will live forever with Him.”
Blessings a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did the same thing today. I auto repair center gave me a discount and helped me out more than they had to. I resisted. Instead of letting God give it to me immediately I resisted. God is so good to me even when I delay receiving his care for me!
Thank you so much for sharing this. It really spoke to me. I so often find myself beating up on myself for not being ‘good enough’ and the enemy whispers to me that God will abandon me because I’m not good enough or too much trouble. Thank you! Thank you!
It IS all about God. And I praise Him for that, because if it wasn’t that way, I would jump into hell myself like a fool. It takes humility to accept a gift, espcially when its undeserved. I praise God for the gift He gave that I don’t have to pay for! Thank you, Daniel, for sharing that.