Layaway

 

“How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.”

—Psalm 31:19

A mom dreams of giving her child a gift she really wants to give, but can’t afford. She lays down a deposit with the intention of paying a little at a time. And then, just before Christmas, goes back and claims the gift she has the goal of giving.

Just think of our God that way. He holds gifts in store for us and knows the best time to give them. Deuteronomy 28:12-13 speaks of the kind of blessing God stores for those who obey and follow Him:

The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands…The Lord will make you the head, not the tail…you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

In Proverbs 2:7, we read that:

He holds victory in store for the upright.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, we read that God holds in store for His children a “crown of righteousness.” These are new graces out of God’s abundant new provisions.

Have you ever received a gift that is really old? Let me give you an example.

As a high school girl, my grandmother gave me a beautiful antique settee and chair that she owned. The chair had a big hole in the cushion, and the upholstery lay in tatters. At the time, my mother took the chair, and stored it away in our old farmhouse. Many years later, after I had married and moved away from home, my mother had that old chair recoiled and cushioned so that it, like new, could be useful again.

God does that too. He can “restore” things in our lives we thought would never be useful again. In Joel 2:25, we read God’s words to Israel, even before the exile to Babylon:

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten.” (NKJV)

When the destroying swarms of trouble, sickness, or poverty devastate us, God has a way of miraculously restoring those things that we thought had been ruined. He holds them in store for the day when He makes them like new: useful and beautiful again.

God, like the loving parent, knows the gifts that He intends to give to us. He delights to think about us, to plan good things for us, and to rejoice in preparing a time for His special gift-giving. We can delight in waiting on God’s good things. Praise Him for the day of gift-giving ahead, full of surprises and great joy, all to His glory!