At first glance, this verse is about gifts. Who likes to get gifts? Have you ever gotten a gift you weren’t thrilled with? A ‘bad’ gift? Christmas is right around the corner and many gifts will be taken back to the store on the 26th "…no thanks, I think I’ll exchange this for something I like better."
When I turned 16, I remember my Dad gave me a flashlight – just what every 16-year-old girl wants. And the next door neighbor, who I didn’t know even knew I existed, gave me a book – "Car Repair for Dummies." I was obviously deeply unimpressed with both gifts, being a teenager in the '80s, I only wanted a pair of Z Cavaricci jeans and a new pinstriped shirt.
So what happens when ‘every gift’ that ‘comes down’ doesn’t seem ‘good and perfect’?
A few months after my 16th birthday, I found myself stranded on the side of a cold Wisconsin backroad at night. Don’t you know I was glad about that flashlight and the knowledge I had gleaned from my book? Sometimes what seems ‘bad’ to us is either actually good, or has the potential to bring forth good. Those gifts really redeemed themselves ...
