Tag: gift

The Power of An Unexpected Gift (New Angles on the Nativity Pt. 3)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I once lost my ID. I’d been hustling my way through the airport, trying to catch a flight, when I flashed my ID to a TSA agent. Somewhere in the bustle of unpacking my luggage at security and boarding my flight, my ID vanished. But I didn’t even know this had occurred until I received a mysterious letter in the mail.

I opened the thin envelope and found my ID card wrapped in a note. The stranger told me about how they’d found my identification and decided to mail it to me. They also shared the love of Jesus Christ. I was already a Christian at the time, but the gratitude that flooded my heart was close to a conversion experience.

The Most Unexpected Gift

I remembered this story as I was shopping for Christmas presents for my family. I realized that the best presents we receive are often things we never knew we needed, but once we receive them, we don’t know how we lived without them. The greatest example of that is the love of Jesus Christ.

Many of us walk through life with holes in our souls. Because of our relationship—or lack thereof—with our parents, we feel unloved and unwanted. Or discrimination we’ve faced on the job has blasted gaping holes in our self-worth. Or our sweetheart bitterly broke our heart this holiday season. We’ve tried to fill this hole with just the right present—fresh kicks, a new car, or a bigger house—or presence—a new lover, a new boss, or a new friend. But the hole within us hasn’t just remained, it’s grown larger until the whole of us is empty. But then Jesus crawls down the chimneys of our hearts lugging an unexpected present: a cross.

He left His home so that He could bring us home. He gave up His family so that He could make us family. And He sacrificed His life so that we could truly live. He gave the only gift that could truly fill our void: Himself.

Conclusion

Which brings me to my second story. This year, I knew a small group who wrapped Christmas presents for college students on campus. They spent over a month filling the boxes with goodies and writing personalized letters as they prepared for the day when they would hand deliver them to the students who would receive them. But at the last minute, they were notified that someone else would be giving those presents to the students. These young men never got the chance to see the impact their unexpected gifts would make in the lives of others.

But the power of an unexpected gift always carries wings. It will last for years in the memories of those blessed by it. It will spread from person to person, family to family, and even nation to nation as countless others share its story. And it will live on in our hearts just like the love of that precious baby boy who was born in a manger 2000 years ago.

“Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

(2 Corinthians 9:15)

My Extraordinary Ordinary Father

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Dedicated to my father—I am so grateful to be your son.

Every Saturday morning growing up, I was awoken by the sound of a basketball caroming off a hoop. It was the sound of my dad practicing his special double-handed overhead shot.  Most of the time I’d hop out of bed and run downstairs to join him. But sometimes I’d roll over, dig my head into my pillowcase, and try to go back to sleep. But regardless of how I responded, I knew that every Saturday morning my father would be shooting hoops in our driveway.

It wasn’t until I was older that I found out my dad wasn’t training for the NBA combine. He didn’t like basketball and knew that he’d never be good at it. But he would go out there every weekend hoping to connecting with my older brother and me.

Extraordinary

My father is extraordinary. He started his life in his America in his thirties with a wife and a baby boy. Despite his college degree from Nigeria, he worked a menial job for years as he earned an American graduate degree.

 My parents slept on a mattress on the floor in a one-bedroom apartment. They lived paycheck to paycheck and depended on WIC to make ends meet. They endured hundreds of stressful days and countless sleepless nights until they finally broke through. And we arrived in the suburbs with a two-story house, a swimming pool, and a basketball hoop.

Ordinary

But I don’t appreciate my dad just because of one extraordinary act of his. As Rome wasn’t built in one day, neither was our loving family. As I mentioned earlier, every week we’d play basketball together. Every week we’d go to church together. And every week we’d share a meal together.

These ordinary, seemingly mundane events formed the sturdy foundation of my childhood. I knew my father loved me because he was always there for me. And even when he traveled for weeks on end, I knew that when he returned, we’d pick right back up where we’d left off.

Conclusion

Proverbs 19:14 says, “Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.” But an understanding father is also a gift from God. God gave me a father who’s left me with much more than houses or wealth: He’s given me love, and all the wealth in the world can’t compare with that.

“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.”

Proverbs 13:22a

Unexpected Gift, Unexpected Grief (Life After Death Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Elisha was the servant of the prophet Elijah, who was spoken of in Life After Death Pt. 1. The LORD gave him a double portion of Elijah’s powerful spirit (2 Kings 2:9-12). He exemplified this magnified ministry by multiplying bread (2 Kings 4:42-44), cleansing lepers (2 Kings 5:1-14), and even raising the dead (2 Kings 4:18-37).

Unexpected Gift

As all resurrections do, this one began with a birth. There was a wealthy woman living in the land of Shunem who noticed that Elisha passed through their village regularly. She invited the man of God into her home. Then she created a small upper room for him to stay in whenever he passed through. Blessed by her hospitality, Elisha asked what he could do for her. Recognizing that she and her husband were elderly yet childless, he promised that in a year’s time she’d have a son (2 Kings 4:8-16).

“‘O man of God, don’t deceive me and get my hopes up like that’” (2 Kings 4:16), the woman said. But sure enough, a year later she held a son in her arms.

Unexpected Grief

The infant grew from a babe cradled in his mother’s arms to a boy that could walk all by himself. But one day he ran to his father and cried, “Oh, my head, my head!” A servant carried him to his mother, and he died in her arms (2 Kings 4:18-20). The unexpected gift was replaced with unexpected grief.

The Shunammite woman traveled to the man of God. She collapsed at his feet and cried, “‘Did I ask you for a son, my lord? And didn’t I say, “Don’t deceive me and get my hopes up”’” (2 Kings 4:28)?

Like the Shunammite woman, we too have received unexpected gifts from God: a new job to work, a wife to hold, kids to raise. We might not have even asked for these things, yet God answered the desire of our hearts. He gave us a gift we cherished, then He took it away.

Unexpected Restoration

But the Shunammite woman had come to Elisha for a reason. He traveled with her back to her home. When he entered his room, he found the dead boy’s corpse lying on his bed. He cried out passionately to God, and God reached down to that precious boy and restored him back to life. Because of the Shunammite woman’s faith, a boy’s life was unexpectedly restored, a family was unexpectedly reunited, and a testimony was unexpectedly redeemed.

Conclusion

The Bible says that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). God never changes. The same God who gave you a good gift yesterday is the same God who took it away today. God always has a good reason for death—of a dream, a career, or even a loved one. We may never figure out what it is here in this life. But we can rest assured that the same power that raised this woman’s son from grave is still at work today.

“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

(Lamentations 3:22)