“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17

Good Gifts

This past week was full of good and perfect gifts. My daughter graduated from a very small Junior High class in a beautiful graduation ceremony. Most of our family was there to celebrate with her, and afterwards she and I went off for a truly wonderful night of fun with her classmates.

As I sat around a fire pit with new and old friends and could hear our kids inside laughing, joking and having fun playing a card game, we were talking about the amount of sleep we were not going to get that night. I made some comment about usually only getting about four hours of sleep a night anyway, and when someone asked me what typical hours I slept, I replied about 10:00 p.m. to 4:00-4:30 a.m. I pondered that answer for days, until I realized that one of God’s good gifts that I hadn’t even noticed was that He had given me more sleep! I have a chronic health condition and for many years I would get maybe four or five hours a night, waking up at 2:00 or 3:00 every morning. I actually was able to get a lot of things done during that time: reading my Bible, praying for those the Lord put on my heart, getting devotions and Bible Studies written, and after going back to work, doing overtime early in the morning.

As I continued to ponder this, I realized a couple of things: I had been so caught up in thinking I only got four hours of sleep a night, I hadn’t even thanked God for His gift of about two-and-a-half hours more sleep, and how often my mornings now consisted of doing overtime work for my job far more than reading, writing or prayer. It is something I need to rectify.

So I would ask what good and perfect gift has the Father has given you recently which you haven’t thanked Him for? And secondly, in the realization of that gift, is there anything you perhaps need to change or modify?

“Father God, I thank You for the night of celebration with my lovely youngest daughter, and thank You for Your good gift to me of more sleep. Help me to keep my priorities straight in the early morning hours when I am awake, as spending time with You is the most perfect gift of all. Amen.”