The Gifts Of God

We live in a broken world and sometimes doubt may come that causes us to question the nature of God. What if He were to come and pour His gifts on us in full measure? Would we be able to bear up to it? Perhaps it is in His mercy that He helps us grow progressively rather than on a sudden leap into the infinite. Writer Katherine Khaw shares that we have much to thank God for and that we have a God-given purpose.

The world we live in is in the claws of an angry, hungry beast. The lands are filled with untimely disasters, social unrest, and overwhelming bitterness. There are many names for this ongoing destruction. Nonetheless, this is what we Christians refer to as sin.

Sin is a mark of imperfection, the root of evil that can be traced back to the Fall. It is a curse that cackled delightfully into the world as it spilled from this historical act of disobedience. Just as the consequence seeped through an individual to the rest, so did the rescue plan unfold from one Person to everyone else. Just as no one is spared from the Curse, all are welcomed to receive the Gift.

Still, it appears as though there is hardly any change. Perhaps we are feeling insecure and disturbed, ready to shake our fists at the Infinite One to ask, “where is the breakthrough?”
Perhaps we have concluded, “if God gives a perfect nature overnight, how easy it would be”. Or maybe we are saying to ourselves, in the small quiet of our hearts, “there’s no longer a need for a God who doesn’t even show up”.

Entertain this idea with me now – what if we are visited by the Heavenly Ones (like an angel of God) and presented with the Fruit of the Spirit and invited to partake of it? The angel may then declare that the effects would be seen immediately. Featured below are the features of the Fruit:

1. Love

… from which one’s heart is burdened with both affection and grief. The first of which for the beloved and saved, the second for the ones who are stumbling unknowingly in open darkness. For one who wraps themselves in this trait, he/she would aspire to go beyond measure, to reach out to others in the face of uneven odds. 

2. Joy

… from which one is continuously reminded, through the highs and lows, to believe and foresee a better future than the one before him or herself. Should there be trials and troubles, it would cause no permanent waver to the heart, but to the structure of the cold prison walls that envelops the heart. 

3. Peace

… that which is a gift which surpasses all human understanding, in every event aligned even to a chaotic environment. It is a promise bestowed and kept by the Giver. A divine permission that allows one to know the end without getting trapped in misery, fear, and distress. For there is more than what is present in the current circumstances. 

4. Patience

… that which brings one to the newfound realisation of grace undeservedly given, and mercy more. This is what it is like – even as it seems simply too much time is taken for growth to come. This seems to be the season of “not yets”, and closed doors, or an answer that the person is not looking for; to carry the weight of the long-suffering, to perhaps give one’s all and have no one show up in this lifetime. To feel alone in a stone grave with filthy torn rags, as though the sun will never rise again. 

5. Kindness

… from which one envelops another in a smile, a gift for the broken-hearted. It is a message in a bottle – it could be a digital text in a space of never-ending bytes. It enables one to give the benefit of a doubt to the human nature’s tendency to be and to remain stubbornly self-centred. 

6. Goodness

… that is a torch set ablaze, because such warm light is not meant to be left hidden beneath a bowl or behind downcast eyes. Despite the shadows that stretch in the evenings at one’s feet, hope prevails. 

7. Faithfulness

… that encourages one to be a diligent steward, in the smallest and biggest of things, to dream of an oasis in dry and barren lands. At His instruction, one obeys and builds a wooden ark into the future where rainstorms were once unheard of. 

8. Humility

… that which brings one to their knees, knowing each life is a miracle in the makings of a womb. Each life is an example of a fragile vessel of clay storing the treasure of heaven, deeply longing to be more than mere dust. For there are reminders all around that confirm one slight error equates to no life. 

9. Self-Control

… that which is linked with respect, knowing when to take a step back and when to let go. To surrender the work of one’s hands to the God who knows far better and beyond.

What more could be said? The nature of God is multi-layered. Certainly, for each venture, though amid struggles with groaning and questions, are meant to glorify God in the process. The scenario above, in which a Heavenly Being drops by for a visit and offers such powerful immediacy – while it may seem like the perfect plan, would it be too much for our limited bodies to handle?

Should then, when future disloyalties and other imperfect natures appear – when the terrible monster appears to be you and I – would we remember our Maker? Surely it is a blessing in disguise that we learn in steps. While some progress may be made in leaps and bounds, it is never a sudden stretch to the infinite, or else we would definitely have been crushed in defeat.