Monday Magnificat ~ Calling Forth the Gift

Several years ago, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. I had received a Gift from God and had happily used the gift for many years. From girlhood to young adulthood, I was happy and fulfilled to use the Gift. Then one day the Gift was no longer appreciated. There was no opportunity to offer the Gift. I was confused. I was sad. Some noticed and questioned, “Where is the Gift?” I had no explanation. I didn’t know why the Gift was relegated to a distant corner. I grieved as though there were a death. Crying out to the Gift Giver, I asked for answers. There was silence. I wondered who I was without the Gift.
In the silence, I read about a man whose sickness led to death. His family was distraught. The Gift of his life supported and sustained his unmarried sisters. They were confused. They were sad. To the Gift Giver, they said, “If You had been here, our Gift would not have died.” The response? “I am the resurrection and the life.”

And the response of the two whose Gift lay behind a cold, hard stone? One made a confession of Christ. Confessed her belief in His magnitude and mission. The other fell at His feet and, though weeping, worshipped nevertheless.

My tears dried. My heart hoped! I retrieved the Gift from the corner, and lovingly wiped away the dust. “Dear Giver,” I prayed. “You gave the Gift. Now I give it back. Do with it what You will. I offer it as a sacrifice to You who first placed it in my hands. I believe in Your greatness and in Your plan for the Gift. Though once I wept, now I worship!”

As I worshipped the Giver, I noticed another Gift in my hands. “What is this?” I wondered. It seemed smaller, though just as beautiful as the other one. Trusting the Giver with the Gift I gave back, I began to use the smaller Gift. And as I used it more and more, it grew. He showed me how to use it to glorify Him. I was happy. I was fulfilled.

And then one day, a resurrection took place. The Giver who had lovingly held my Gift placed it back in my hands. There was a message attached. It read, “You trusted Me to hold Your Gift, not knowing if I would return it. Now I call it forth! You worshipped Me without it. Now return to worshipping Me with it.”


Do you have a Gift but feel that it has been relegated to a dusty corner? Sometimes we lay our Gift aside. Sometimes we have no opportunity to use our Gift and it lies dormant as though sealed behind a heavy stone. Offer it to God as a sacrifice of worship. Trust Him to call it forth in His time. Worship Him with it or without it. Remember you are not your gift! You are a worshipper.

My Monday Magnificat? I glorify God with the gifts but I worship the Giver! For this I utter my praise.

Magnificat ~ an utterance of praise from the Latin magnifcare ~ to magnify. (photography by Linda Charlene)