Graciously Gives

           He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

          Graciously: in a benevolent, courteous, helpful manner. (Oxford Languages Dictionary, online.)

          Whenever God’s giving is mentioned, the idea some get is that God will give us whatever we want. According to this verse, not only will He give us all things, but He’ll do so graciously. The definition above tells us that God doesn’t have to give us everything we want. He is still gracious if He withholds things that would be bad for us. He’s still gracious if He says, “No” to things we want that won’t help us.

          The first thing God gives us when we seek Him is Himself. His giving up of His Son to and for us is a demonstration of this. He is what we most need and if His giving Himself to us doesn’t satisfy us, there’s something dreadfully wrong with us. It’s called sin.

          I’m not suggesting that we don’t have needs we should pray about. But the point is that His saying, “No” does not violate His Word. Just as we could not graciously give a child poison, so God cannot graciously give us something that will harm us, because that could contradict the promise that He will graciously give because even though we might see Him as helpfully giving us what we want, His giving would not be helpful from His perspective if He knows it will harm. It’s like suggesting that He should give us a square circle.