God’s Good Gifts

My friend Rosie is an amazing person. Born without arms, she’s refused to believe her life need be limited. With deep confidence that God has given her everything she needs to live an abundant life and honor Him, she’s become a remarkable wife and mother, a brilliant scholar, and an extraordinary artist.

Perhaps what’s most astounding about Rosie’s art isn’t that she paints with her feet and holds the brushes and pallets with her toes, but the inspiration that goes behind each piece. While standing before a blank canvas, Rosie always prays for God to guide her paint strokes and her compositions, which reveals insights into her intimate walk with Jesus and His loving character.

In Romans 12, the apostle Paul prayed for the church at Rome to be equipped with all it needed to fulfill God’s will. Paul’s prayer didn’t suggest that every person had what the world deems necessary for success (for example: a perfect body, exceptional mind, money, property, or social status). On the contrary, Paul asked God to produce something anyone can possess: the power of Jesus Christ and every good thing that makes it possible for us to do His will.

We don’t come to know God’s will for us by copying the behavior and customs of the world, but by letting Him transform us. As He changes the way we think, we can “learn to know God’s will for [us], which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well” (Romans 12:6). Rosie has the gift of encouragement, and through her life and artwork she blesses others. Ask God to reveal to you the gifts He’s given you and how to use them for His glory.

Taken from “Our Daily Journey”