Every Good GIft
John the Baptist was an interesting guy. I was reading in John chapter three today where some of the people asked John the Baptist about Jesus and seemed worried that men were flocking to Jesus instead of to John. “John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.”
I’ve been pondering that thought. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I get impatient sometimes. Okay, a lot. :) And I’m working on that. When I ask my kids to do something and they don’t instantly respond, I remind myself that they can be legitimately busy and what I have to ask doesn’t always require an instant answer, just because I’m impatient.
But our society feeds that thinking. We have instant coffee, instant messaging, instant cameras – and in my google search just now I found websites for instant anatomy, instant sports, instant knowledge, instant passports, instant bingo – and the list goes on.
We are consumed with the here and now, with whatever we want when we want it – feeding our ever-growing impatience.
But aside from the little things – like wanting instant answers from one of my kids – I’ve been thinking about how I so often want bigger things to happen – bigger blessings, particularly regarding writing – and I want it yesterday.
So when I read John’s words, that a man can’t receive anything unless God gives it to him, I was reminded anew that I can’t compare myself to other authors who have what I don’t. I can’t make an agent or editor love my work – despite my constant checking the email or listening for the phone, begging them to respond positively. I can’t force a publishing board to take a chance on me. I can only devote myself to learning to write the best book I can. To move from learning the writing rules, to creating a work of art. I’m not sure I’ve done that yet. I have much I still want to learn.
And I’m reminded also of a verse in James that says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…” So if a person cannot receive anything unless God gives it and God’s gifts are good and perfect, then I can trust Him to give good gifts to me. But I can’t demand those gifts or choose their timing. God will grant them as He wills.
If God chooses to pour His blessings and success on others and more readers flock to them than to me as more people flocked to Jesus than to John, such things only happen because God wills it. They can receive only what God sends them, and the same is true for me.
John the Baptist said it best when he summed up the conversation with his worrying friends this way, “He must increase, and I must decrease.”
If we keep that perspective, we won’t be impatient or worried about instant anything. We will treasure the good and perfect gifts that He allows and wait on what’s to come.
