A big pile of dirt, promises, and Build-A-Bear



A couple weeks ago Bryan and I were able to have a wonderful sleepover with our two nieces, Lily (4) and Violet (2). They are as opposite as they come, with Lily being very quiet and sweet, and Violet being every bit as loud and hilarious as she can be! Needless to say, it is always a good time being with them. On this particular evening of our slumber party we were eating dinner and told the girls that we had a surprise for them after they finished eating. Of course, they immediately resorted to a game of 20 questions, trying to figure out their surprise. After a round of questions and failed guesses from both of them, sweet little Lily exclaimed, "Is our surprise a big pile of dirt?!" Bryan and I could not contain our laughter as we explained that the surprise would hopefully be a little better than a pile of dirt. 


As I tried to figure out why Lily thought a pile of dirt would be a good surprise for little girls, I was reminded of how our Father in heaven loves to give good gifts to His children. I mentioned this point briefly last month, but I want us to dig deeper into this passage from Scripture. Grab your Bible and read Matthew 7:7-11. Jesus mentions that our Father loves to give good gifts to His children. Have you ever stopped to think about how that is one way we can reflect His image? I don't know about you, but I love giving gifts, especially when I find just the right thing for the recipient. This is one of many ways we are imago Dei; God's image bearers. Cool, right? Ok, but where is the promise here? Look back at verse 7 of this passage- not only does God give good gifts, He also desires to give us that for which we ask. Sometimes I get weary of asking God for the same thing, over and over, so I resort to asking for a pile of dirt, aka, the things that don't really matter. Rather than continuing to ask for my uncle's healing from cancer, I ask for a "good day" or for God to "bless this food". Are those bad things? No, but they may represent my pile of dirt. It is heart-wrenching to pray for healing and not see the effects of it here on earth. However, what we must remember is our ultimate goal of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. Maybe healing doesn't take place on this side of Heaven, but I certainly know it will happen on the next side. God loves to give His children good gifts, and He promises that those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find. Will it always happen exactly the way you expect or get exactly that for which you ask? Absolutely not.That is where our trust in a good and holy Father comes in, knowing that He has our best interest in mind. In the end, Lily was much happier with the result of her evening at Build-A-Bear than she would have been with a pile of dirt.  


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