A God Who Delights to Give

I just love Christmas. And birthdays. And weddings. And any other opportunity I get to give gifts to those I love. I take pride in being a good gift-giver, and I go to great lengths to make sure that I find the most perfect gift for each specific person. I find pure joy in watching my loved ones receive a gift entirely handpicked for them.

When you think of God, how do you imagine Him? It’s easy for me to picture Him as someone with extremely-high, easily-disappointed expectations for His children. I often feel like I will never measure up, that I will never be enough for Him. This feeling especially intensifies when things don’t seem to be going my way. When it seems like blessings are being withheld despite my best efforts to obey, it’s easy to feel like God is someone stingy in His gift-giving. However, in Doctrine and Covenants chapter 41, the Lord tenderly reminds us of Heavenly Father’s true character, “Hearken and hear, O ye my people, saith the Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings” (emphasis added).

Heavenly Father wants to bless us! He delights in it! We are not burdens to Him, nor does He distribute His favor in a reward system. We are His people, and He “delights to bless us with the greatest of all blessings.” The question, then, is how do we recognize this attribute in Heavenly Father even when it feels like we’re not receiving the blessings we most want? Perhaps the answer lies in our own expectations of what His greatest blessings actually are.

Heavenly Father wants to work all things for our good. He wants us to grow and to become like Him. Most of all, He wants us to be happy. But the blessings we think we want are not always those which God gives. Like a dog who sits at his master’s feet, begging for a gulp of the boiling water on the stove, we often ask for things that are not actually in our best interest. Sometimes the blessings we think we are in greatest need of are not the ones God has in store for us. What He wants for us are gifts like the constant companionship of His Spirit, revelation, peace, purpose, and families that last forever. Most of all, God wants to bless us with an eternity of living with Him. We must trust that a loving Father in Heaven is working all things out for our good, even and especially when it feels like He isn’t.

In November, I returned from my service as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I went back to Brigham Young University with high hopes for my future, determined to seize the day and create the life that I wanted. This included getting my dream job as a teacher at the Missionary Training Center, taking the last pre-requisite classes I needed before applying to my major, and having a blast dating lots of cute boys (perhaps even finding true love). Unfortunately, that isn’t what happened. I didn’t get the MTC job. I didn’t get into the classes I needed. And I am still woefully single. I found myself frustrated and feeling distant from God, wondering if He was withholding blessings from me because of my many weaknesses and lack of perfection.

But although this semester has not gone the way I’d hoped, I can see the great blessings that have come about in His own time and in His own way. I was blessed to work three part-time jobs, and each one of them gave me wonderful experience and life-long friends. I was blessed with a lighter course load than I anticipated. I was blessed to go on many dates with many nice young men, learning from each one and ultimately teaching me more about myself and the type of relationship I eventually want. More than anything, I have learned how to trust God when it seems nothing is going your way, how to keep moving forward with faith even when you can’t see one step ahead of you, and how to find peace even in the midst of a raging storm. These are truly the greatest gifts that the Lord could’ve given, and I know He was delighted when I received the blessings He handpicked for me.

When we make time to hear and hearken to the voice of the Lord, it is easier to recognize the great blessings that He is working out for our good. They often happen in the background of our lives, quietly and without a lot of pizzazz. But we must remember that because the Lord DELIGHTS in blessing us, He is not only powerful but also joyfully loving. Jesus once posed the question, “What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (KJV Matthew 7:9-11).

If I, an imperfect creature, can find such joy in giving good gifts to my loved ones, how much more joy mustan eternally perfect Father feel as He lovingly showers down the greatest gifts upon His children? As we learn to trust the Giver more than the gift, we begin to see His hand more clearly—and realize that the greatest blessings of all are the ones that draw us closer to Him.

Avery Palenske has officially finished another semester at BYU and plans to stay in Utah through the summer. When she isn’t busy working, she plans to adventure her way through an extensive summer bucket list. Even amidst learning how to make sourdough bread, tubing down rivers, and road tripping across the Lower 48, she finds true purpose and peace in worshipping Christ each week in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.