When God’s Gifts Come in Unexpected Wrapping

As a kid, I had extremely high standards for Santa. I felt if I held up my end of the bargain, of being a generally good kid, he needed to hold up his end: checking off my Christmas list. Every December, I would get my list ready to be mailed to the North Pole. Some years I showed more restraint than others, asking for things like a Barbie Dreamhouse or a Tamagotchi. Other years I really went for it, asking for things like a baby sister or a trampoline. Most of the time I remember being very satisfied with my gifts, but there were definitely years of disappointment when instead of a baby sister, I received a life-sized barbie doll instead (not quite the same thing as a living breathing baby).

I have to laugh at myself knowing what I know now: Santa is not real and he certainly isn’t in charge of providing me with siblings. Still, I can’t help but wonder how many times my mindset toward God is similar to the mindset I had of Santa during my childhood. 

God the gift-giver

Growing up in the church, I understood God to be, among many things, our Heavenly Father. And as a father, similarly to my earthly father, God delights in giving me good gifts. We can turn to many passages in scripture to defend this view of God. Take Matthew 7:7-11: 

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” 

Right here we see a clear depiction of who God is (our father) and what He will provide (good gifts to those who ask him). Looking back at my earlier equation, it seems to be pretty similar—if I hold up my end of the bargain (asking God for “fill in the blank”), then He will hold up His end (giving me what I ask for). So why do I often end up feeling like I did that year Santa didn’t bring me a baby sister: disappointed and frustrated in my relationship with God? 

More than Santa

In moments such as these, when it seems like God doesn’t hear me or is simply going back on His promise, it’s important for me to recognize another key trait of God. Yes, God is our Heavenly Father who delights in giving His children what they ask for, but He is also infinitely wiser than His children. Look at Isaiah 55:9: 

“As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” 

In those moments I’m disappointed and it seems as though God has forgotten me, I remind myself that God and I are not on a level playing field. I also remind myself that if God said it, I can trust Him to keep His word. With those truths in mind, I can more easily draw the conclusion that God has either already answered my request, just not in the manner in which I assumed. And if He hasn’t answered it, yet, He will, in His good and perfect timing. 

A gift in unexpected wrapping

This Christmas season, as I reflect on the promises of God, I am also reminded of these principles on display in the Christmas story. God kept His promise to humanity on that first Christmas Eve, when Christ Jesus was born, but He did it in an unexpected way and in His own perfect timing. God’s people had been praying fervently for Him to provide them with a Savior, but who would have imagined this Savior being born in a dirty stable to an unwed teenage girl from the small town of Nazareth? They envisioned the Messiah as a mighty warrior king who would finally free them from their Roman oppressors. They pictured a sword—not a manger. God answered the prayers of His people and kept His promise by sending His son Jesus. This wasn’t in the way many expected, but it was in exactly the way they needed.

Reading the Christmas story, I thank God He’s not my childhood view of Santa. I’m glad He doesn’t always give me exactly what I want, when I want it. I’m grateful that God, as my perfect Heavenly Father, knows exactly what I need and is faithful to provide me with good gifts—even if they come in unexpected wrappings.