An Unexpected Gift

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever."

Psalm 136:1 NKJV

WALK AND WORSHIP

On occasion, when it is nice out, I take a walk in my neighborhood. I usually listen to worship music when I do. Walking is a time set aside for me to get alone, get quiet, and experience God's creation. Listening to worship music allows me to set my heart upon Him as I walk and listen to His words wash over me.

One hot, sunny, and steamy Saturday afternoon last summer, with my headphones plugged in, I set out on my same path as I always do. Towards the end of the walk, a particular song by the Contemporary Christian band FFH (Far From Home), which was most popular in the mid-to-late 90's, titled "His Love Goes On Forever." I have always liked the song for its catchy tune, and I usually sing along to it while driving. On this particular day, however, a few lines of this song were different:

"His love reaches to the highest mountains, His love stretches to the lowest valley. His love will never fail me. It is always there surrounding me..."

It was during this particular moment, as I listened to these lyrics, that I rounded a curve and noticed a bluff before me. I saw the mountains above me and the valleys below me. The more these few lines played, the more I had to stop walking. I stood in awe of what I was seeing. Simultaneously, I was overwhelmed with what I was hearing. God provided a moment for me to focus solely on Him. He wanted to show me His goodness, His mercy, His kindness, His beauty, and His love. He gifted me in this moment in one of the most unexpected ways.

When moments like this occur, I honestly never feel like I deserve them. However, because He is so kind and so good, He does it anyway. Therefore, all I can do in return is stop. I stop and gaze upon His beauty. I stop as He reminds me of His sovereignty. I stop because that is what His almighty power and holy reverence requires of me.

Moments like this restore my faith when life goes awry. Moments like this show me that He is God and I am not. Moments like this show me how small I am and how big He is. Moments like these require me to give up my control and hand it all over to the One who holds it all.

GIVER OF GOOD GIFTS

He wants to give good gifts to His children because He wants to reveal His love to us, show us who He is, and also to restore our faith. This is especially true when we lose hope. His life and death on the cross would be the ultimate gift to us and for us. After all, His life and death epitomized grace. He knew we were yet sinners, and He still came and died for us anyway. Friend, that is how much He loves us.

Without His grace, we are not saved. If it were not for His life and death, there would be no grace. If it were not for His love, mercy, and grace, there would be no faith. Consequently, if faith ceased to exist, so would eternal life.

We cannot put our hope in this world or man. After all, this world and man do not satisfy our every need. Man is there to complement us, not complete us. The same goes for the things of this world. Likewise, if we put our faith and hope in God, we realize that this new hope that we have is eternal. We stop looking at the world and begin to turn to Him instead.

Sometimes, it might take years of Him reminding us and Him beckoning us back to Himself. It is in these moments, when we do stray, that He will always be ready to welcome us back into His loving grip of grace.