God’s Greatest Gifts

It was a stressful March morning. I had a big week at work and a to-do list that felt miles long.

I didn’t know how I would get it all done.

I didn’t know how I would get it all done AND keep my eyes on God. Busyness had taken hold, Sabbath was long gone, and the cold ache of “Spiritual Dryness” filled my soul. I wanted to complete my tasks well, I wanted to keep God at the center. But I had gotten sucked up by the metaphorical tornado of life and didn’t know when I would get spit out long enough to even spend time with the Lord.

Have you ever been there? The seasons where you know you need some Jesus time to recenter yourself? But you feel too far gone, too distracted, too stressed to even carve out the space for him?

Sometimes when we don’t make room for God, I think He shows up through people.

He isn’t stopped by our stubbornness or schedule. Instead, He makes His presence known through the people in our life who are surrendered to Him.

That March morning, He made himself known through a note in my lunchbox. My sweet roommate and best friend, Sammy, knew the week was stressful. She knew I was struggling, so she snuck a little piece of paper into my lunchbox. A simple 3 or 4 sentences in her perfect elementary school teacher handwriting: “I know God is going to use you in big ways. You’re amazing! I love you!” This wasn’t out of the ordinary. Sammy is the kind of relentlessly loving presence who manages to shine light and Christlike love into every situation. Over the last three years of living with her, there have been countless notes, surprise lattes, perfectly folded laundry, and dozens of genuine acts of love.

Sammy is the kind of person God uses to show up in my life when I’m not making space for Him.

And in those moments, when I opened my lunch pail, or when she handed me the homemade latte, or when I came home to my folded clothes - God showed up. Not because of a note or caffeine or an inability to do chores. He showed up because He showed me He loved me intentionally enough to make me feel seen on the hardest days. Even when I wasn’t making space for Him, He would work in the people around me to make space for me.

“12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

- Colossians 3:12-14

God made us for relationships and community.

He invites us to be clothed in compassion, bearing with one another, forgiving one another, and being bound together in perfect loving unity. That is the kind of life God wants for us.

Why? Because I think God knows in our sinful nature there will be times when we try to run from Him. Times where we ignore Him for busyness or fame or achievements or money. And if we won’t make space for Him, He’ll show up in the people around us. He’ll be the small group that holds us accountable, the spouse that silently prays every night, the roommate that puts a note in the lunchbox. God is constantly showing up for us in the people around us. He creates divine encounters over cups of coffee and FaceTime conversations.

He uses community to bring us back to Him over and over. And He gives us the joy of loving and being loved while doing it.

So my advice to you: The stressful March mornings will come. Your plate will feel full, your sinful nature will distract you, and at some point, you will wander your way away from God again. Have a Sammy in your life. Have someone who will pierce through the darkness. Have a community that will pull you back in. Through laughter and fun, and through deep and hard conversations. Seek that community. Find the people. And then live it out. Do the same for them. Don’t go it alone.

Let’s be a holy people, united by love, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Cristina Schmitter

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