4 Things You
Really Need to Know about Your Gifts
Pricilla Shrier
Two years! That’s how long Gideon’s heroic story kept me
spell-bound. I would have never guessed it could.
I mean, it is only Gideon after all.
His story has been told in more Sunday school classes and expanded
into more lights-camera-action, Hollywood underdog movies than most every other
story in the Bible.
So, when I began, I didn’t expect to uncover much more than what
I’d already read, heard or seen before. Certainly didn’t think I’d write a book
on him or the lessons I’d learned while peering into his life.
But then I began.
One verse led to another. One chapter to the next. One day
parlayed into a month.
And one month ballooned into a couple years before I could blink.
Once I started digging in – deeply – down below the surface of the written words,
down to the places where only the Holy Spirit has the mining rights to dig, I
found much more than I went in looking for.
More than the well-known fleece incident.
More than the victory claimed by a small, unassuming army.
More than a timid farmer having a transformative encounter with a
heavenly visitor.
There was more…much more.
And one of those uncovered treasures is . . . Gideon’s
Gifts.
Then Gideon . . .prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from
an ephah of flour;
he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought
them out to [the angel of the Lord] under the oak, and presented them.
Judges 6:19
Whether out of mere hospitality or holy reverence, Gideon asked
his guest to receive this luscious spread of traditional Hebrew food.
His guest.
The Angel of the Lord.
The Malak Yahweh.
The pre-incarnate Christ.
God.
God. Responded.
I will remain until you return.
Judges 6:17–18
God. Waited.
A stunning picture of Yahweh’s kindness toward humanity. A dramatic painting
of His passionate intent to partner with frailty. A brightly illumined
spotlight on His willingness to oblige mortality and accommodate fragility.
The Malak Yahweh wasn’t upset – put off by the
inconvenience of the delay. He agreed to it – chose to cool his heels while
Gideon prepared the gifts he wanted to present under the oak tree in Ophrah.
For some reason known only in the divinely, comprehensive mind of God, He wanted
to receive the gifts . . . of a mere human being.
He cared about Gideon’s gifts.
Just like He cares about yours; your time, your talent and your
passions. Your gifts.
Whatever you have to give, He wants to receive it . .
. .if you’re willing to prepare it.
That’s exactly where the lessons found in Gideon’s gifts
begin.
There was nothing fast about this food. No deli on the corner. No
Whole Foods Market nearby or Chinese take-out across the dirt road.
Gideon’s meal was “homemade” in the purest sense of the word. He
killed the young goat himself, kneaded the unleavened dough for the
bread, and whipped up the broth, all from scratch. And it was an extravagantly
sacrificial meal given Israel’s current state of deprivation. It required
time, effort, and energy to prepare His gift.
Many Christians don’t want to start here. They balk at doing the
hard work involved in the preparation process. But God won’t use what we
have not taken the time to diligently prepare.
Divine gift giving doesn’t stop there.
What good would Gideon’s meal have been if he’d not been willing
to return to the oak tree – to bring out the meal he spent those long hours
preparing and give it to the angel.
Prepared gifts cannot serve their purpose unless they are presented
gifts. Gifts kept in hiding are largely useless and untapped.
Sadly, fear and insecurity often keep unsure individuals who have
done their due diligence from bringing them to the forefront of service. So,
they’re left holding good gifts that are not being used for God’s purposes.
Prepared gifts.
Presented gifts.
But wait, there’s more.
Then the angel of the God said to him, “Take the meat and the
unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”
Judges 6:20
Gideon: Ummmm. Excuse me, sir. I’ve just slaved over this
exquisite meal for hours. You want me to do WHAT with it?
Yes, the angel told Gideon to release the very thing he’d so
painstakingly prepared. To put it down and pour it
out. Two actions that no chef – or hard working mother I know – would ever
agree to.
I’m a gift giver. Enjoy it more than anything else. Seeing eyes
light up and smiles erupt makes me happy.
And, when I give someone a gift, I have a definite idea of how I
hope they’ll use it. In my mind, I see them enjoying the new appliance in their
kitchen, or wearing that nice peach blouse they unwrapped with the gray slacks
I already knew was in their closet. But, at the very least, I certainly don’t
want them re-gifting it!
I think Gideon probably had a certain expectation too, after going
through all that trouble to prepare such a fine meal for his heavenly visitor.
But the angel didn’t lick his lips and dive into the meal as Gideon might have
suspected. Instead he chose another, very strange way of accepting the gift. He
told Gideon to release everything he had just prepared – to put it down and
pour it out.
Releasing our gifts back to the Lord for Him to do with as He
pleases is difficult and humbling—especially since we often harbor expectations
of what He’ll do with them.
But Gideon’s story teaches us an important lesson: the best use
of our gifts is never what we imagined. For when Gideon put down his gifts,
they were met with a stunning divine display.
In one brilliant flash of miraculous light,
“the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in
his hand and touched the meal and … fire sprang up from the rock and consumed
the meat and the unleavened bread”
Judges 6:21
And with that, an average rock became an altar and Gideon’s gifts
became a sacrifice, offering an aroma of worship sweeter to God than any baked bread
or lamb chop ever could.
This is what I want.
And, I suspect it’s what you want too.
There is nothing commonplace or meager about the gifts you have to
give. No limit to what God can do with them to edify His body
and bring glory to His own name. God can and will use them as long as you are
faithful to . . .
Prepare them.
Present them.
Put them down.
Pour them out.
