Overflowing Gifts

We all go to the grocery store (though maybe not as often as we used to) or try to purchase items on sale or items that make a meal stretch a bit. We went out for breakfast a few days ago. The total bill was just shy of $21. What a deal! I didn’t realize what a deal it was until I saw that it fed us two meals each. We didn’t expect an overflowing of food, but we had it. God supplies our needs.

Years ago, I was at a local grocer. It was late summer/early fall when the fruit is exceptional and abundant here in Colorado. As I passed through the doors of the grocers, I knew I had just a couple of small items to pick up, so I planned to be quick and be on my way.

There were signs in several places advertising discounts on wonderful fruit and veggies. Have you ever entered a store and when you pass by a fruit stand you can breathe in the aroma of its goodness? I love the smell of fresh fruit. It’s like walking into a garden. I know our Lord provides this so that we fill ourselves with the sweetness He has created and supplied. In this array of colors, sweet scents and beautiful displays was a favorite of mine – organic blueberries (discounted!). How could I resist? I could stock my freezer for a few special treats in the winter accented with these lovelies. So yes, I gathered what I could hold.

I still had a couple more things to pick up, but on my way to the isles that held those two items, a man approached me and asked if he could get me a basket. Of course, I thanked him; being a mom and having the super-power of octa-mom, I was confident in my ability to manage. So, of course, I said, “No, thank you.” I turned the corner to go up the aisle where my next item lay in wait when my chin slipped displacing the pressure between it and my hand which held four plastic cartons of blueberries. Did you know that on impact those little cartons have the ability to burst open and allow the contents to ramble out at an amazingly fast rate?! There was not a wet-aisle clean-up, but definitely a “blueberry clean-up on aisle five” moment. Humility …

I was reminded of this story when I was at a conference recently when the speakers were talking about Cultivating Your Gifts of Leading and Teaching. I’m sure you’re asking how they are related.

Here’s my take: God gives us gifts that overflow, spilling out in abundance and blessing others. What happens when we hold those gifts close not using them to their fullness? In John 2, Jesus tells the servants to fill the jars, and they fill them to the brim. (The fullness of God with no room for anything else). Jesus transformed the water into wine. (He is transformation).

Do you know of a gift He has blessed you with? Filled to overflowing? How can you apply this gift to your life and give it to others? Hold this, sit in this dissonance, wait for His answer and follow His leading. I pray for His answer to you as He stretches your heart and mind to hear.

- Traci Hollingsworth