Isaiah 58
“I’m praying for Jesus to give me a guitar.”
I was confused, “Ileana, you don’t play guitar. Are you wanting to learn to play?”
She replied, “I do someday want to learn to play, but for now I’d like to pray in my prayer room and strum the guitar as I sing with Jesus.”
A week later we saw some friends and the couple offered their extra guitar to her. I turned to her later in private and asked Ileana if she had asked them for it before they offered to give it to her.
She said, of course not, as if I had missed the whole point.
She asked Jesus for something fun, and waited for Jesus to give it to her as a gift. How would she know it was from Jesus if she manipulated the situation and begged our friends for a guitar.
Because, then the guitar would have only been a gift from the couple, and she wouldn’t have known for sure it was from Jesus.
What an interesting idea. If she didn’t tell anyone, then when the prayer was answered, she would know it was Jesus.
I had grown up thinking everything had to have an important purpose if it was from Jesus.
I remember as a kid having a fascination with nice pens. I had a favorite pen that I saved up for and bought. Somehow I had misplaced it.
I was praying to find my favorite pen, when an adult asked me why I was praying. I can’t remember who it was, but they quickly scolded me.
They said, “God doesn’t care about your pen, He is occupied with feeding poor people in poor countries around the world, and answering prayers for more important things, while you are here with plenty of food and fancy pens. He’s not going to answer your prayer to find your pen. You’ll end up finding it yourself.”
It stuck with me. Even though I found my pen, I accepted the false idea that God doesn’t care about helping me find an insignificant pen. I accepted the false idea that I’d have to find it myself, because Jesus is dealing with more important things.
Ileana’s explanation of how she would use the guitar is what satisfied my idea of how God gives gifts. But, this is where I learned something so special and dear about Jesus.
It wasn’t a super expensive guitar and if fact she only strummed it in her prayer room.
After a couple years of minimal use, the guitar just sat there in the corner of the room in a black case. Ileana cleaned the dust off it, but that was it.
I noticed this, and finally declared, “You should give that guitar to someone, or to a church that could use it. It has no purpose for us anymore.” We actually knew Spanish churches that needed guitars.
Ileana said, “If Jesus asks me to give it to someone else, then I’ll give it to them.”
Then she said the most profound thing, “Jesus gave me this guitar just because He loves me.”
It hit me like one of those fake slaps in the movies, where you fall over on the floor.
Slowly I spoke to myself. It didn’t have to have another purpose, other than the original intent to show Ileana that Jesus loves her.
Ileana knew that the guitar was just a guitar. What made it special was that Jesus lovingly gave it to her.
Even when Ileana’s life felt difficult and had destruction all around her, God filled her heart. He gave her good gifts and gifts just to say He loves her.
Does Ileana get everything she asks for? No, she doesn’t. But, she knew the guitar was just Jesus saying I love you.
If you are hearing this, and wondering if Jesus loves Ileana more than you, the answer is of course not. He loves you as much as He loves Ileana.