Trust God, Not the Box

​Steven Furtick says, "When something comes into my life in a package I don't like, I can miss the purpose for which that package came."

It's true. We are good at judging the book by it's cover. Judging the value of the gift by the box it comes in and how it's wrapped.

We see the torn paper and think, this can’t be good. We see the broken box and assume, nothing valuable could be inside that.
But sometimes God hides His best gifts in boxes that have been through a lot, boxes that have been dropped, kicked, or left out in the rain, because He knows the treasure inside won’t be appreciated by those looking only for perfection.

Sometimes the gift of patience comes wrapped in the paper of waiting.

Sometimes the gift of compassion comes in the box of loss.

Sometimes the gift of peace comes through the package of pain.

I drove Elliott back to Virginia Tech yesterday. For almost all of the 3 hours driving there, the weather was dreary. Large sections of the drive were so dark it felt like nightfall. But you know what, my kid didn't stop talking to me the whole way.

Not so much as a moment of silence.

I've had two desires as a father. That my kids would come to know and love God with the same kind of heart with which I love God, knowing that they will come to that kind of heart much more from seeing my heart than from hearing about it. And then also, that my kids would look forward to talking to me. Not talking to me because I'm their dad and they feel obligated to - but because they love talking to me.

As we drove, talking through the darkness and above the sound of the windshield wipers wiping back and forth, and as I looked down at the rubber wrist band Elliott was wearing with an important to him scripture written on it, I felt a beautiful light in the darkness.

I felt God remind me that my life has not always been offered to me in the most stable of boxes, and nor have those boxes very often been wrapped in fancy wrapping paper, but my life has overflowed with beautiful gifts.

God has taught me, over and over again, that darkness is not a sign of dark in my life, but of approaching beauty and light. For it is God in my life that is the measure of my gifts, not the boxes.

Maybe you'll have some broken boxes come into your life this week. I'll gently offer, maybe trust God, not the box.