What you are is God’s gift to you; what you do with yourself is your gift to God
Danish proverb
Over the last few days God has been putting in my mind ‘using ones spiritual gifts’. It has come up time and time again in different circumstances.
At prayer group last night we were challeneged to write a list of the gifts we think God has given us, and then a list of how we had been called to use them. I found this relatively easy as I had been thinking about it all week anyway! We didn’t all share but a couple of people did and I was quite dismayed by their answers. One lady said she had been waiting 20 years for her calling. This is someone who I believe has a very strong faith. I on the other hand am a newbie, but also champing at the bit and already feel that Iam being called in various ways. Surely those who have been at this game for a while should be reeling off the things they feel they have done in Gods name? I mean I know it is important for us to wait on the Lord sometimes and really listen to his plans for us, but in the meantime there must be things one can do. For exmplae me writing this blog – I mean I started it for me, so I wouldn’t forget everything I am feeling and what is happening, but I know it’s already touching people and I don’t think it was an obvious, shout in my face, kind of calling to write it, just an idea that came to me. So it made me think well, maybe some of us are being called already but we either can’t see it, don’t have the courage to deal with it or chose to ignore it – a bit like the kind of selective hearing which my children are so good at…
Maybe we should all sit down and look at our gifts more often. God has given them to us for a reason. I am a ‘get up and go’ type of person, if I want to do something I just get on with it. I did think that this needed to change in my new found faith (and I know I need to listen more and do what God wants not what I want,) but equally I think it is a really positive force in my life. If I feel God is asking me to do something I am not going to sit around on my backside for days thinking about it, I am going to get on with it… (famous last words… 🙂 ) and I know that used in the right way this could be a really useful gift.
This quote was sent to me by a friend some years ago when I started my own business. It is a bit harsh but actually sooooo true.:
Pitiful is the person who is afraid of taking risks. Perhaps this person will never be disappointed or disillusioned; perhaps she won’t suffer the way people do when they have a dream to follow. But when the person looks back-she will hear her heart saying, ‘What have you done with the miracles that God planted in your days? What have you done with the talents God bestowed on you? You buried yourself in a cave because you were fearful of losing those talents. So this is your heritage: the certainty that you have wasted your life. (Paul Coelho)
I certainly do not want to be there on the day I meet God and when he asks me what I’ve done, to have to say, ‘well, urm, sorry God but I’m not really sure…’ . We all have gifts we can use. If you’re not a get up and go type, maybe you are good with people one-to-one, maybe you quietly spread the word through your actions. We are all evangelists for Christ whether we like it or not, just by living our lives.
I know one of my gifts is being able to communiate with people, I don’t mind standing up in front of people and talking, and have had to do it at various events and in work (funny because as a kid I hated it!!), And I stand up for what I believe in, always have done, so I know that God will use me in this way…. And do you know what? I am raring to go. Yes I know I’m new to this and being fired up as a new Christian is one thing, but how will I fare in a few years time….? I can see all the criticism already, but I don’t care! I want to live my life for God and I want to spread his word, and that is what I intend to do….
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering Gods grace in its various forms.
1 Peter 4:10
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