I seriously doubt there is a soul alive, unless he/she is extremely paranoid, who would say no to the gift of a $20 bill for fear of it being a counterfeit. Could you imagine your response if you wanted to bless someone with a $20 bill and their response was, “No thanks. It’s the most counterfeited bill and I wouldn’t want to be arrested if I used it. Now, if you could give me 4 fives, I’d be ok with that.” Even if the person had experienced being paid with or given a counterfeit $20, would they refuse a $20 bill from that point forward? (As a side note, they could learn to recognize the counterfeit by studying the real thing, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make.)
Now, imagine a little more. Suppose you as a parent wanted to give your child $20. And the child said no for the reason stated above. If this child repeatedly refused your gifts because they were afraid they were counterfeit and would hurt him if he accepted it, wouldn’t that hurt? Wouldn’t you wonder what you had done to cause this child to not trust you? I can’t imagine the turmoil I would feel if I had a child that would not accept gifts from me for fear that it would cause him harm.
Yet, we do that regularly with God. Oh, there are certain gifts we accept from him. Money, good health. But, children? Nope. Can’t handle too many of those gifts, Lord. And, I’m realizing more and more than His children refuse the gifts of His Spirit because they are afraid! Not only do they refuse them because of fear, they warn others about those gifts! Could you imagine if your child did this to you? Warned his siblings that your gifts could be dangerous?!
I realize that part of the fear is having seen these gifts misused. Can we trust the Giver of the gift to teach us how to use the gift? My sons have all received guns as gifts. They have never refused. Yet, these are dangerous weapons. They know these weapons can be used correctly and for good and that Dad will be sure they know how to use them correctly.
Sometimes the fear is that in our human weakness, we will go to an extreme. In reality, the only way to go to an extreme in a negative way, is to take our eyes off Jesus, the Giver of the gifts. When we begin to cherish the gift above the Giver or to forget that this is a gift and not an ability we have developed on our own, we fall. But, who are we trusting to keep us? Are we trusting in our own ability to stay faithful?
So, fear is often the reason these gifts aren’t earnestly coveted. And, fear is lack of trust. When I say no to a gift, I either do not trust the giver or myself. Can you trust the Giver? Can you trust Him to teach you how to use the gift? If you don’t trust yourself, it’s an indication that maybe too much trust is placed in yourself to keep you and not enough trust in the Keeper of our souls. And, we believe we can do what God asks us to do without the help of His gifts.
It also seems to indicate that we have mixed up Satan’s gifts with God’s gifts. I’ve often heard people say that God sends suffering as a gift to help us learn. The Bible tells us Satan is the one who sends suffering-for our destruction. God, in His infinite mercy, takes what Satan means for harm and uses it for our good. And, He will take the blame for it as well. But, suffering isn’t His gift. OTOH, we believe the gifts of the Spirit are for our destruction…sounds like we think they’re from Satan. Who switched the gift tags?
Do you think it pains our Father’s heart when His children say no to the gifts He desires to give because of fear? Do you think it grieves Him when those children warn others about His gifts? Do you think that maybe it hurts Him when we attribute suffering to Him and the gifts of the Spirit to the enemy?