I received the best gift yesterday – sewing pins! My host came into my room yesterday afternoon with three boxes of sewing pins for me. I jumped up, squealed, and gave her a huge hug! Seriously, I don’t think there is any other gift she could have given me that would have made me happier!
As a seamstress, I brought a pretty well-equipped sewing kit with me on the race. Over the past 7 months I have used that sewing kit to bless many of my squad mates. I’ve patched pants, patched backpacks, fixed holes in shirts, and made quite a few Bible covers. I’ve had to buy new thread a time or two. And somehow, I’ve lost most of the straight pins I originally packed in my sewing kit. I suppose I’ve left a trail of straight pins across 3 continents. (Hopefully no one steps on them! Ouch!)
I’d been using safety pins (such a hassle!) for my sewing projects due to my lack of straight pins!
Earlier this week, while sitting in the dining room, sewing a Bible cover for my teammate, I commented that I needed to buy more straight pins. I just hadn’t seen any anywhere since leaving home! My ministry host heard that and found new pins for me herself. Now I have more sewing pins than I started the race with, and certainly enough to last me through the end of the race and beyond.
I’ll admit, most people would not have been that thrilled to receive a gift of sewing pins. That’s okay. This gift wasn’t meant for most people, it was meant for me. It equipped me to go on being me, doing something that brings me joy, sewing. The best gifts aren’t necessarily big or expensive. The best gifts are the gifts specifically picked out for the receiver because the giver knows just what will bring that person joy. The best gifts say “Hey, I really love who you are. Here’s something that will help you continue to be you.” Those are the kind of gifts God gives us.
As Christians we are blessed with gifts of the Holy Spirit. Each of us is given a gift, but we don’t all have the same gifts – and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, and to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
1 Corinthians 12:8-11 (NASB)
God chooses which gifts to give us, because He knows us better than anyone. He created us so He knows which gifts we will be able to best use to benefit His kingdom. He doesn’t just throw things at us and say “Hey, take this because it’s all I was able to find.” No. He knows us. He knows how He created us. He knows what brings us joy. So, He gives us the spiritual gifts that equip us to be fully ourselves.
We are all different people, so God gives us different gifts. However, sometimes it’s easy to become jealous of another’s gift. It’s easy to think “They’re serving the kingdom better than me because of their gift of wisdom. Because of their gift of faith. Because of their gift of healing.” But that’s just not true. How silly would it be for a person who doesn’t sew to be envious of my gift of sewing pins? Those sewing pins wouldn’t be of any help to them, thus, they wouldn’t get used. There would certainly be a better gift for that person than sewing pins. And their gift would most likely not be something that would be useful to me. So why would they envy me? Instead, wouldn’t it be better for us to use our gifts to help each other? I could sew something for them, and they could do something for me.
Why do we envy other who have different gifts than we have? The gifts we have been given are the best gifts for us. God did not make us all to do the same thing. He made us to work together, and the gifts He gives us reflect that: our individualism and our need for one another.
“For just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly.”
Romans 12:4-6 (NASB)
