The rejected gift

My Yielded People!! Happy Monday! 💃

Last night, I was meditating deeply on how the Holy Spirit is such a precious gift. Do you know the vision behind the Yielded Center? It is, Living a Spirit-led Life. And that’s exactly what I desire. I want to live a Spirit-led life. I want the bestest of friendships with the Holy Spirit. I want to change, to be transformed. I want to make better choices. I want to be corrected when I’m wrong. Because I want to honour and keep this gift that God has so graciously given us. As I was meditating, a story came to mind… Here goes:

Let’s imagine a couple. They live in a beautiful home but one thing burdens them: they have no children. And it hurts. They’ve prayed. They’ve wept. They’ve fasted. But still, no child.Over time, their disappointment turns to frustration. Their frustration turns to bitterness. Their once-joyful home is now heavy with tension. So much so that they stop letting people in physically and emotionally. Every visitor feels like a reminder of what they don’t have.

Every baby shower, every family photo, every innocent comment feels like mockery. So they lock their doors. They isolate. They shut out anything that doesn’t look like their answered prayer. Then one day, a delivery man comes. He brings a package wrapped in paper covered with teddy bears, rattles, and baby shoes. He knocks. The woman peeks through the curtain, sees the wrapping, and without opening the door says: “Leave it there. I don’t need children’s gifts.” She doesn’t know what’s inside. She doesn’t even care. Her pain has convinced her that nothing good can come from outside that door.

The gift sits there for a day. Then three days. Then weeks. The seasons change, rain, heat, wind, dust. The box is still there, unopened. They leave the house, walk past it, ignore it. Their bitterness has made them blind. Nine months pass. Three years pass. The gift is still outside.

Then one day, a friend comes to visit. She too has struggled with the pain of childlessness. She notices the weather-worn, half-torn gift box still sitting outside by the door. “What’s this?” she asks. “Oh, just some children’s gift someone dropped off years ago,” the woman replies bitterly. “I don’t have children. I didn’t bother opening it. You can take it if you want.” The friend hesitates but accepts it. She brings it home. Some weeks pass, then months. Then unexpectedly she calls her friend, her voice trembling with emotion. “Friend! The gift you gave me…”

“Yes?” the woman replies, confused. “I opened it… and it wasn’t a toy. It was a scroll. Inside were instructions on how to obtain a promise… a child. And now… I’m pregnant. With twins!” There is silence on the other end of the call.The woman sits down. Stunned. Numb. “That’s not possible,” she whispers. “That gift… it’s been sitting by my door for years. In the rain. In the sun. It’s old. It can’t be real.”

But the friend responds gently, “Yes but you never opened it. You never welcomed it into your home.”

I feel like that’s how we are with the Holy Spirit.We shut Him out. We assume we don’t need Him or worse, that He has nothing useful to say. We pray for help, for direction, for breakthrough… and still feel stuck. Confused. Lost.But the One who was sent to guide us the One who literally has the answer is still standing quietly outside the door. Waiting. Still there. Still faithful. But someone with the exact issue as you, let Him in and things are working out!

The Holy Spirit is not pushy. He won’t barge in.He waits for an invitation. And when you finally open the door? You’ll find that He never left. We cry out to God, desperate for direction. But we ignore the Helper sent to lead us into all truth. We wrestle in confusion, drowning in our thoughts, but we reject the One who’s been standing there holding the ABC’s of our life map.

Life without the Holy Spirit is hard. I don’t know how people do it. I really don’t. It’s toil. It’s suffering. It’s endless guessing. It’s walking in the dark, when there’s a light switch within reach.That situation that’s gotten the best of you? That heartbreak, that decision, that mountain? Give it to Him. He’s not just here to make us “feel something” during worship. He’s here to lead. To teach. To comfort. To instruct.To reveal. To transform. Open the door.

The Gift is still waiting.

“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

John‬ ‭20‬:‭22‬ ‭NKJV‬‬