When God’s “Big” Gifts Come in “Small” Packages

Posted on by drdyona@gmail.com

Where are my spiritual/religious readers at??? 👀 This post is for you so read on…

Have you ever been excited to open a gift? Well, I definitely was excited to open this one. The gift box was big. I’m talking HUGE!!! I couldn’t even wrap my arms around it. Can you visualize it? Now, I know I’m getting ahead of myself so let me backpedal a little bit…

When I was six years old, my dad started a church. Now back then I could not really appreciate what it would mean to be raised a PK (that’s ‘preacher’s kid’ for those who aren’t familiar with church lingo). Church life can be grueling at times; but back in those days, church life seemed easy (at least from my kiddie perspective). Church was a place where a small group of us would gather together on a weekly basis to fellowship with one another and praise God. We gathered at one of the member’s houses back then prior to renting an actual church building. Our group was so small and close that it really felt like one big family.

On one of our church’s anniversary celebrations, the leaders brought in an enormously big box that was gift wrapped. Maybe it was because of my age, but that box seemed larger than life. Taller than me. Wider than me. It was enormous.

dylan o'brien as stiles holding a very large birthday gift box

I’m not exaggerating…it really was AT LEAST this big.

Everybody was excited as they encouraged our pastor (my dad) to open up his gift. Now as a kid, I LOVED getting presents! There is something super exciting about getting a wrapped gift and wondering what is inside as you rip off the gift wrap. It didn’t even matter (mostly!) whether it was my gift. Just seeing someone else’s gift was exciting to me! So, as my dad unwrapped the gift, I waited with bated breath to see what was inside.

It was another, gift-wrapped box.

Needless to say, I was NOT amused. 😒

Of course everybody kept egging him on to unwrap the box.

Open it! Open it!

Now while I was really, really, curious to know what was inside of the box, the initial disappointment of seeing another wrapped box put me off a bit. Regardless, I sucked it up and waited again to see what was inside. I was still pretty excited as I waited to see what was inside.

When he finally unwrapped the box he found yet another, gift-wrapped box.

Now, I’m sure you guys know how impatient kids can be.

I was no exception.

The first time he unwrapped and revealed another gift box, I was mildly annoyed. The second time I was slightly more annoyed. But again, I was still dying to know what was inside the box.

So again, I sat there and waited for my dad to unwrap and open up the next box.

I’m sure by now you know where I’m going with this.

My dad unwrapped the box and found yet another, gift-wrapped box. 😵‍💫

By this point my annoyance was turning into irritation.

Where in the world was the actual gift?!!!

What was the point of torturing us with multiple boxes???

As these questions ran through my mind I could feel myself getting frustrated. As I watched my dad unwrap and open the next gift box, I was significantly less enthused.

I’ll give you one guess what was inside of that box…

Now to be clear, I still wanted to see the outcome. However, the more boxes he unwrapped, a funny thing started to happened. As my dad unwrapped the boxes, and they got significantly smaller and smaller, my excitement decreased accordingly.

From my child perspective, a larger box signified a larger gift; so as the box got smaller, and smaller, and smaller, my excitement and joy decreased in return.

Why? Simple. The gift must not be a great gift if it was that small! Added to that, I wanted instant gratification. The longer it took to see the gift the more discouraged I was to keep pressing on.

Gone was the joy and excitement of revealing “The Gift.” I was disappointed even though I had not yet seen what the actual gift was. By the time my dad unwrapped and revealed yet another box, I was basically uninterested in the whole affair.

jimmy fallon throwing a ball of paper away or at the screen

I’m not exaggerating. I was done!

But one thing that stood out to me the entire time was how the church kept encouraging my dad to keep going.

Keep opening up the gift.

Keep going.

Keep going.

Keep going.

Trust that you’ll still get a good gift even if/when it doesn’t look the way you expected.

And keep going he did.

The more boxes he opened, the smaller the “gift” became. Eventually, he was left with a box that could fit in the palm of his hand.

I wish I had a picture of my little face back then! (Pretty sure it was something like this 🤨 I sat there, basically confused as to how the large gift I had originally seen could end up being so small and tiny. While I was very much aggravated, I still had to admit that I wanted to know what was inside the box.

Now if I’m completely honest, I wasn’t expecting much. After all, the gift could fit in his hand⎼his hand! How great could it really be?!

Then my dad opened the box. There was only one item inside ⎼ a key.

I don’t have the words to describe just how much the atmosphere inside that house changed in that split second. People were hooting, hollering, yelling, screaming! As I looked at the key I wondered, “Why would he need a key? Unless…”

As they led my dad to the front door and opened it, we saw a beautiful, brand new burgundy minivan sitting in the driveway with a large bow on top. To say that we were all grinning with excitement is like saying water is wet⎼it’s a HUGE understatement. Everybody was so happy! It was joyous! Exuberant! We had a new car!!!

Now I tell you this story to share this: What gift are you waiting on God for?

  • Is it a job?

  • A business?

  • A degree.

  • A relationship?

  • A child?

  • Reconciliation?

  • Healing?

  • Peace?

Do you often feel as if you have been waiting forever for the gift you’ve been praying for with zero results to show for it? Well, you’re in luck. I’m in that spot right now. Hoping and praying for a gift ⎼ multiple gifts; and yet God seemingly keeps asking me to go deeper and trust that it’s coming.

I am not going to lie. Sometimes, I revert back to my younger self and just wish that I could get to the end already! I don’t want to unwrap more boxes. I don’t want to do more work. I just want the gift. It can be so hard to keep pressing forward when you start to feel that the gift will never arrive. Discouragement is a major motivation killer.

Sometimes, you miss out on the Gift God has for you because it doesn’t come in the package that you would have expected when you would have expected it. You thought it would be bigger, taller, fancier, shinier in some way. You thought it would come yesterday, last week, six months ago, a year ago, three years ago. You thought it would look like this and sound like that. So when the gift doesn’t fit into the narrow criteria you had in mind—or appear when you thought it should—you are tempted to get disappointed or walk away. But I want to remind you that God is never, EVER late and it is impossible for God to give you a bad gift.

Isaiah 55:8 says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

Are you discouraged right now? Are you starting to wonder if it is worth it to continue to hope and pray for the gift?

Keep going.

Keep going.

Keep going.

Keep going.

Have you received something that doesn’t fit into your idea of what the gift should look like? Pray to God to reveal to you if there’s a chance that you have bypassed the gift altogether and need to take a second look. Ask yourself if it is possible that you have almost unpacked the gift but gave up too soon. Ask God to reveal areas where you need to keep going.

Remember this, God doesn’t always give you what you want; but He absolutely does give you what you need. Make sure that you don’t miss out on a beautiful thing because you gave up too soon, ignored the packages that didn’t look the way you were expecting or became discouraged when the gift didn’t arrive within the timeframe you had in mind.

What advice would you give to someone struggling in this area?

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0 thoughts on “When God’s “Big” Gifts Come in “Small” Packages”

  1. This was truly thought provoking, and it really resonated with me! Thanks for sharing this post. I will do my best to not get discouraged and continue to hope in the Lord. He is faithful!

    Reply

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