BIBLE STUDY — ONE THOUSAND GIFTS
How to Turn Pain and Loss into Joy
Opening to God’s gifts in every moment and situation
One Thousand Gifts
This week, I’ve embarked on a 5-week Bible study using the book One Thousand Gifts Study Guide by Ann Voskamp. The first session of the study has already opened my eyes to a few important points regarding the pain and loss we experience as part of everyday life. Ann offers us hope by revealing a common theme in the Bible, something she calls Eucharisteo.
Can we possibly find joy in all things?
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12, NIV)
This Bible study is online
I choose to help establish an online group for this study instead of the traditional face-to-face format. The online option makes the study accessible to anyone who has a computer and the internet. Participants can work at their own pace, share when they wish, received further instruction, and read and/or take part in discussions each day.
If you wish to take part in this study you can request to join GTGW One Thousand Gifts Bible Study. The only thing we require is for each participant to have a copy of the study guide. Anyone interested in future studies can join our main online Facebook group Growing Through God’s Word.
There is hope, a way out of the chaos and darkness
Three basic concepts emerge in the first session of this study and I give my interpretations below. The authors' ideas offer hope for anyone struggling to manage the constant and relenting ups and downs of life. Our God is a good God and His perspective is very different than what our current culture wants us to believe.
I hope these ideas offer you hope as they did me.
Soul holes
Unhealed wounds from past hurts can cause us to close our hands and our hearts to God and His grace. Pain, loss, unresolved grief, punch holes in our soul. These soul holes allow God’s grace to leak out so we never experience His fullness.
Grace: Unmerited favor, a gift freely given.
Ann offers us a different perspective. What if we choose to seek out the blessings, the gifts in these situations, in every situation, even the ones that cause our souls to bleed out? What if we choose to keep our hands and hearts open to His grace in all things? His grace is available in every situation, all we need do is find it and give thanks for it.
Our fears will form us from the beginning unless we learn to see things differently.
Eucharisteo
God’s grace, His unmerited favor, His gifts freely given, they are everpresent, available at all times and in all situations. When we seek out these gifts and give thanks for them, pure joy results.
Thanksgiving always precedes the miracle. — Ann Voskamp
If we can change our perspective we can change our world. When we can turn our focus from worry and fear to one of gratitude and thanksgiving, pain and loss drain away and God’s gifts become vibrantly clear.
Life is chock-full of tragedy, it’s not hard to find at all. However, there are always things to be thankful for in every situation. We need only peel away the debris to find the hidden treasures, God’s miraculous gifts.
The secret to joy has nothing to do with our situation and everything to do with our perspective.
Naming and making lists
In Genesis, God asked Adam to name everything. This began our release from chaos. Naming helps to sort things. Naming brings the gift of recognition and gives things an identity.
Naming makes the invisible become visible.
By starting a gratitude journal, making a list of 1000 gifts of grace offered by God, our perspective changes and we begin the sort through the chaos. In paying attention like this, simple pleasures become noticeable; the hand of a friend when we’re feeling alone, the sound of a loved one snoring when sleep has eluded them, flowers that miraculously reappear every year out of a ground once frozen solid. When we pay attention the gifts are never-ending.
Start by listing up to twenty gifts of God’s grace. — Ann Voskamp
It’s easy to lose focus. We are bombarded with sounds and images every waking moment of every day. News, media, music, even ringtones battle for our attention. Many see these intrusions as normal, necessary, even needed, so much so that we’ve become numb to the subtleties of life.
On our death beds, we will not be pondering the things we see as paramount today. What’s important, and ultimately what brings us joy, is tucked into the recesses of life and of our soul. Our focus and searching shine a light into these recesses, dispelling the darkness. As we give thanks to God for these hidden gifts we experience joy unimaginable.
Joy is what God uses to wrap His gifts.
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