A Question From God?

As I was studying today, I read about a man who had been asked a question by God. This man was asked "If I could give you one gift today, what would it be? If I had a silver platter out in front of you, what might you pick from it?"

I was shocked at how this question seemed so profound to me. At how I was suddenly caught off guard, how I instantly felt so small. I could not grasp nor even begin to comprehend the thought of God Himself, the Author of life, the Creator of the entire Universe standing in front of ME, offering me a gift of whatever I wanted.

Want. Now there is an interesting word that congers up many different thoughts and emotions. By definition...

Want: To desire greatly; wish for: To have need: The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary.

How about the word gift?
Gift: Something that is bestowed voluntarily and without compensation.

As I pondered on what I myself might ask God for, visions of money, success, and countless other things of this world poured through my mind. Then all of those thoughts came to a halt when I saw the face of my son, Charter. That was it! I would use my one gift to have the Lord heal my son of diabetes. Tears began to burn as I envisioned how this would change his life. Oh, what an amazing gift it would be! To watch my son be healed from this daily agony. What a glorious gift! My heart began to sing as I envisioned my own heart being healed of one its greatest pains.

My mind yet again stopped dead in its tracks. I felt sick, the room began to spin. In that moment, I knew the Lord a little bit better. I knew Him and understood Him in a way I have heard about, but never before had it been this real to me. It made my stomach drop. What made me go stone cold you ask?

You see, I realized that I already posses the only gift that I ever need from God. I have received the gift of salvation. God though, being God and all, one upped that and blessed me even further by sharing that same gift with my husband and all three of my children.

How did this make me understand God more though? A simple word... sacrifice. He knows all too well the dreaded word. He understands what it is like to watch His child suffer, to watch His child in pain... just like me.

This life we live however painful it may be, is only temporary. The pain we endure as Christians here on earth, is truly the worst that we will ever have it. For nonbelievers, their story is quite different. Their life here on earth is the best things will ever be. The ending of their stories will look much different from my own. That thought, the thought of people coming to the end of their lives, and being faced with eternal torture and death. The pain I felt for those people, that pain out weighed the pain of my mothers heart.

I understood the pain in God's sacrifice. How He would endure the pain of a million deaths watching His son be tortured because He knew that it would end. In that moment I could see through His eyes that pain and sacrifice are sometimes allowed. That there are things we can not always see, and that in the end, we have the comfort of our Fathers Heavenly arms to envelope us in His gracious love.

So, if I had to choose one gift from God today, it would be to save even one more life... eternally. To share the greatest gift of all time. I would sacrifice the opportunity for my son to be healed. He already has the best gift ever. Jesus is his Savior.

It is not that the desire for my son to be healed has gone away, but I know, every time, if I had to choose just one gift, I would give it to someone with a true want, remember want? Want: To desire greatly; wish for: To have need: The condition or quality of lacking something usual or necessary. There is nothing more necessary than salvation in Christ Jesus. After all, things on this earth will all pass away, but the gift of Salvation is eternal.