Have you ever received a gift from someone in a gift bag and could not wait to open it? Recently I was walking around my house gathering all the gift bags I received over the past few months so I could store them safely. If you know me, I'm the person who keeps gift bags, and based on their condition, I regift them. Yeah, I said it, so stop clutching your pearls as you have never done or thought about it. I'm sorry I have to live in my truth, and hopefully, you'll appreciate that I'm stretching your coins. In the moment of storing the bags, gratitude hit me because, in all honesty, nobody has to do anything for me. I became thankful that someone took their hard-earned money and thought of me enough to go to the store/online to pick out a gift. Although they purchased them, I was not obligated to open them at the time given. What would happen if I waited months or years to unwrap them? I would never know what people blessed me with, which prompted me to think about how many gifts we have but never unwrap them and just sit on them until we are ready?
Why Do We Sit On Our Gifts?
The longer you sit on your gifts and put them to the side for later, the easier it is not to unwrap them. I say this because any time I have gift cards, most times, they end up on my nightstand until I'm ready to pull them out. I don't use them immediately because I feel like I got all the time in the world when that's not even the case. I don't know about you, but your girl isn't trying to lose any gift cards, especially if it's for Starbucks. I learned my lesson about expiration dates on a gift card on a good Friday evening after work. I had a taste for some Chili's, so I remembered there was a gift card I had on my nightstand. I thought I was about to tear up some buffalo boneless wings and fries. Let me tell you, I could smell the ranch in the air, see the grease on the fries, and the celery sticks hanging to the side as I was adding them to my cart. Your girl went to check out, and that damn card said expired. I was fighting the air as I shouted, "I Know You Lying." I bet that was the first and last time I did that foolishness because my feelings were hurt, and I had to use my coins. I messed around and lost the gift set aside for me because I decided to wait and not realize that the clock was ticking.
We also sit on those gifts because of fear. Do you know that fear will either do two things, make you flee or put you in a paralyzing state. "If You Flee, You Will Never Be Who God Created You to Be". If You Stay Still, You Can't Fulfill God's Will. Fear isn't the only other thing but the opinions of others and lack of direction. I can only imagine if we realized sooner that if God gave us the gift, he would direct our paths. In order to unwrap our gifts, we must stop storing them in our notebooks, phones, and computers, or discussing with others what we will do with them. I hate to break the bad news to you, because if all you do is talk and write it down, you will never get to walk in your gifts. You have to eliminate the doubts and "Walk it Out" because your gift is not always about you, but it might be for someone else.
We don't know what's on the other side of the gifts we encompass. The thing on the other side might be what will allow you to buy your mama a house or, hell yourself. What if the next million-dollar idea, the encouragement someone needs to leave a toxic relationship, or partnership, was on the other side of your gifts? You will never find out if you don't start unwrapping those gifts. I challenge you to unwrap your gifts and activate them because if you do not, they will "Expire" (die).
What gifts are you sitting on?
Why have you yet to start unwrapping them?
Are you willing to leave this earth full or empty because you have not begun to activate them?
This was a great article and so true. Thanks for sharing your gift with us!