October 25, 2004 - The Master Craftsman

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The Master Craftsman
By Kimberly Rigney
October 25, 2004

A few weeks ago, God spoke this scripture into my spirit: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).

My dad had just received a Craftsman tool set, out of the blue, worth $400. He looked just like a child at Christmas with his new toys. As I sat there watching him hold each power tool, I thought of how God just blessed my dad with a gift that he never even asked for. God gave a gift to my father that was better than most gifts my mom, my brother, or I could ever give him.

However, it only took a day or so for my revelation of God’s gift to slip from my mind. I must say that lately my faith has lacked. I felt alone and isolated and that my needs could not possibly be warranting the attention of God. There were many others out there with real problems, like sickness, death, and financial situations, which seemed to outweigh my petty need for attention. I just was not sure that God cared enough about me.

During the past months, it had seemed as if everything I put my hand to turned to mush. No matter how hard I tried to reach out to others, I only got grief in return. I became frustrated with others, God, and myself. Obviously, my prayer life became almost non-existent. During altar call, I just sat there and cried because of all the confusion I felt. I wanted to trust God. I wanted to believe that He knew I existed, but every situation seemed to show the contrary.

Then last week, I went on vacation with my parents, a bit excited to be getting away for a few days. My dad suggested visiting a church there for Sunday morning service, and at first, I resisted. Church was the last place I really wanted to be; I wanted to escape my frustrations on this trip. However, I decided that it might actually be helpful to visit another church where no one knew me, and so I went.

It is amazing how that one day brought me out of the turmoil my mind had been in. Not only was the kindness and sincerity of that congregation overwhelming, but also the worship was inspiring. One young lady’s worship not only ministered to me, but also gave me a kick in the pants. She reminded me of how I once worshipped God—with everything I had. After service, I told her how awesome her worship was and her reply was, “Thank you. That means a lot because this has been a really hard year for me.” Immediately I felt conviction. I had allowed circumstances to douse my worship, where this girl had let it fuel hers.

On the return trip home, the same scripture popped to my mind. God did not give me a physical gift as He had done for my father, but He had given me many others gifts. I left that church with new friends, a better since of kindness and hospitality, and a drive to regain my worship. God had just been waiting to give these things to me at a time that I could adequately appreciate them. No friend or family could have given me these treasures. No, only my heavenly father could give me greater gifts.

ninetyandnine.com

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Kimberly Rigney is studying to become a history teacher. She spends her days working at a computer lab at college. She loves to read and has a bad habit of breaking out into song all the time.