The Works of His Hands by Sy Garte

Author:Sy Garte
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Published: 2019-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

He offers His love not as a reward but as a gift—a gift for anyone and everyone. To receive this gift, you need do only one thing: take it.

Shortly after the second dream, and after I had gone back to that first church a few times, I had an intuitive flash that what I had heard about God’s love was true. He offers His love not as a reward but as a gift—a gift for anyone and everyone. To receive this gift, you need do only one thing: take it.

For years I had no idea that the gift was even there. And then I could see it: brightly lit, a package with a bow on top of bright wrapping paper. It looked really good, but I didn’t trust it. I was sure it was a trap, something I wanted no part of. I thought, Perhaps there is something good wrapped up in that package, but I was afraid to take it and open it. Would I become beholden if I accepted this gift? Would I be disappointed? Maybe it was only another sweater or a tie. Would I feel let down?

I spent lots of time looking at the brightly wrapped package, sniffing around it like a cat sniffs a new toy. Sometimes I was tempted. Sometimes I thought, This can’t be for me—I have done nothing to deserve any kind of gift. Sometimes I thought, Once I open this present, I can never unopen it, and I was afraid.

And then, without me doing anything at all, it began to unwrap by itself. God thrust the gift of His love at me when I was ready, even though I didn’t know I was ready. And there it was: beautiful, whole, perfect, eternal, wise, knowing, forgiving, loving. When I finally took it, I again felt the joy I had in the dream I experienced as a young man. That joy wells up in me frequently, and I know that I have reached the place I had hoped to reach when I first wondered what that vision might mean.

After the second dream, I began thinking that I was turning into a theist, but I still wasn’t completely sure—I had many doubts. The whole idea of believing in God, let alone in Jesus Christ, was still embarrassing to me. After all, I was an active scientist, and I knew no Christians among my colleagues. (I later found out this wasn’t true—I knew several, but they were keeping their Christianity quiet for fear of ridicule and worse.) I also had no intention of letting go of my scientific view of the world, and I thought that I would need to drop at least some of what I scientifically knew to be true if I really accepted Jesus. In other words, I was still on the threshold.

Crossing the Threshold

I crossed that threshold one day while driving along a highway in central Pennsylvania. I was searching for something to listen to on the radio, and I got hold of a Christian radio station.

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