Spiritual Snowflakes

We had a missionary come to our church yesterday. He spoke on worry in the morning message and then gave an update, in the evening, on what God is doing in Ukraine.

All very good stuff, and of course any who have been reading this know I don't have to work on worry at all:)

I was struck by something he said that I'm sure he didn't intend to be directed at the guys. He was talking about what his wife does and what her ministry is, in Ukraine. She is not a gifted teacher, but is a helper and loves to be with the grandmas. She is very hospitable.

That got me thinking about my life and spiritual giftedness. God gives each of us a very unique set of gifts that are intended to be used for His glory and to further The Kingdom. Does God give us gifts and then frustrate us by not giving us either the resources to carry them out, or the opportunity to practice them? I don't think so. I think that He gives us these gifts and expects us to hone them, to work on them, and then use them for His glory.

What does that mean to us? If God has given you the gift of teaching, you should be working in that area to be a more gifted teacher. If He has given you the gift of giving, then you should always be looking for opportunities to meet a need. If He has given you the gift of mercy, then you should be listening for people who are hurting and be His light into their world.

I believe that God gives each one of us all of these gifts to some degree. The missionary said that we are all spiritual snow flakes; snow in consecutive posts. If your gift is primarily teaching but you also have a merciful heart then you are able to speak to someone that is hurting, where if another has the gift of teaching but God has not taken them through something to give them that mercy yet, they would have less compassion than the first.

Sorry for the mess up way of trying to get the point across. Hopefully you can get the it.

When we have gone through things, like our family and Grant's event, that prepares us for events in the future that we would have no platform to speak about because we hadn't ever gone through that kind of a circumstance. Many are posting a comment on Andrew and Grace's blog who have gone, or are going, through similar situations. They have gained new insight, and care, they would have never had previous to God taking them through their trials.

It is not easy going through this things, I am preaching to myself, but when God gives us trials it is best to look at them as Him making us more useful down the road, perfecting us for the future, rather than whining about how hard it is right now. I have had so many opportunities to share Christ because of Grant's event; opportunities I never would have had previous to it.

Embrace the trials and try to see what blessing God is preparing you for in the future. Easy to say, harder to do. His strength is perfect, when ours is small. We can't do this on our own, but He wants us to be this way.