In the spring, I shared this on Instagram, Little Roxanne looks soo much like her billy goat dad! I’ve even nicknamed her NJ (Nigel Junior) She’s got his wild spirit. She holds her own, is super smart, and SOMETIMES she will show a SPLATTERING of affection (just like Nigel😂). After Nigel died, I hoped one of the goat kids would look just like him. I think I even prayed it. And so came Roxanne. It may just be a goat, but I believe God delights in watching us enjoy what He’s created. God knew I’d feel an extra measure of His care when Roxanne came out looking like Nigel. God is in the details. All the good & perfect gifts. . . every single, tiny one is from God. Never doubt it and don’t ever deny it! Yeah, it’s a goat, but it’s also a display of God’s love! So here’s a small, yet profound question. . .➡️ What display of God’s love are you blind to right now?❤
And I’ll be honest, I hesitated to share that. Why? Because I doubted God actually displayed His love to me in that way. I mean, Roxy is just a goat. She’s an animal. Did God really bless us with such huge, detailed displays of love and use a goat to do that kind of work? What would so-and-so think if I made a big deal about God’s big love using a kid goat as my proof?
But of course, all those thoughts were foolish. Every good and perfect gift is from God.
Every single one.
My natural, physical life is intertwined with my spiritual life, and there is no separation between the two. There are no good things in my life apart from God. All good things and all perfect gifts are from God–straight from His care. Roxanne is proof. A kid goat is a direct display of God’s intimate love for me. Mind-blowing.
How many displays of God’s love have I missed? I’m learning to see them, to name them. But what happens if Roxanne dies suddenly? If, like Nigel, something terribly unexpected happens and I lose a good gift, a special thing?
Well, I’m learning. . .
God’s good gifts and blessings aren’t returnable.
A hard thing or a huge loss cannot swoop in to negate a display of God’s love. I will always be the recipient to God’s good gift of a kid goat that looked just like Nigel. This gift will always be a part of God’s love story to me. And God’s good and perfect gifts will always teach me about the character of God, the greatness of who He is, the kindness of His works, and His faithful love.
Loss doesn’t steal away or cancel out God’s many displays of love, but how often we live a teeter totter existence! We receive the good gifts from God, then hold our breath until they leave, all the while believing that hard things and huge loss will wipe out the reality of God’s good and perfect gifts to us. We are like children in the meadow who pluck at a flowers, whispering . . . “God loves me, God loves me not. God loves me, God loves me not.”
Oh how we cheat myself of joy!!
What tiny faith we have in God’s steadfast, everlasting, all-encompassing love for us! How much we miss when we are afraid to admit God’s love to us. . . a love so big it shows itself in all the small things! Whatever loss comes, whatever grief persists, we can be certain God’s good and perfect gifts cannot be returned, canceled out, or erased from our love story with Him. They have existed in our history, and so they will always be a part of it.
God has given. We have received. These good gifts from God are a part of our history now and always. May we be children who dance among the flowers in the meadow and sing, “God loves me. God loves me. God LOVES ME!“ This is our story and our song now, forever, eternally!
Look at your life. What good gifts are forever a part of your love-filled history with God?
Sierra V. Fedorko 