The Gift
Yesterday, at church, the worship was beautiful and inspiring; the sermon was powerful and definitely challenging: and being with my family was comforting and delightful. Interestingly though, the image that sticks in my head is that of a little girl.
Our church has the children participate in our service up until it is time for the sermon. We have the privilege of hearing their sweet voices sing, and at times be inspired by their exuberant energy. Before the sermon, the children are invited to come learn about Jesus at their level. Preschool and kindergarten children are directed to go to one exit and elementary children to another. It’s one of my favorite parts of the morning. They are always so excited! They faces shine with joy and anticipation of what they get to go do. The smallest ones can hardly contain their pleasure, and the older ones give the pastor high fives as they pass him by.
Yesterday, one sweet, precious little girl waited anxiously for the word to be given so that she could leave her mom and the pew they were in, cross the sanctuary, and go to her class. She did her usual little run-skip combo, and then she ran onto the platform, quickly gave the pianist a picture she had drawn during the first part of the service and then went on to join her friends. The joy on her face as she presented the pianist her small treasure is indescribable. She had happily made something, and she happily gave it away to tell someone else that she loved her, and wanted her to be happy in that particular moment as well. It struck me that I had just witnessed what Jesus wants each and every one of us to do all the time, every day.
God’s Word tells us to “encourage each other and build each other up…” (I Thessalonians 5:11 NLT); “Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11 NLT); “and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24 AMP). It seems like a simple enough task, and yet how often do we not get around to doing it because we don’t make it a priority? Or perhaps we have wonderful intentions, but we second guess what we have to offer so we don’t. Sometimes I think we get get caught up in offering the ‘perfect encouragement,’ and we rationalize that we just don’t know what the other person really needs, so we don’t offer anything.
The little girl’s drawing was not a masterpiece. It wasn’t worth anything on the world’s financial stage. The pianist didn’t need the drawing. The girl offered what she had without hesitation or worry. She just gave it away. The pianist smiled with surprise, and for that moment, she was the most important person in the room — and we all knew it. The little girl had such joy in the giving, and then she didn’t stand there, dwelling on what she had done. The gift was given, and she happily moved on to the next joyful moment of her life. So many lessons to be learned in that moment that keeps replaying in my mind and heart.
I have something to give. Whatever I give doesn’t need to be perfect, or fall on some scale of grand gifts. I don’t have to create an ideal scenario of how to give the gift, encouragement is often needed in the immediate moment. I shouldn’t be worried about what the other person will think of my gift if God prompts me to give something away. Many times I am totally unaware of how I am lifting someones spirits, but God sees a bigger, complete picture.
I will encounter moments today where I can, with delight, give something away, and then happily move on to the next joyful moment in my day. May I be as faithful to encourage someone, building them up, moving them to take steps of love and good deeds as that precious little girl did yesterday.
