40 Days of Fasting & Prayer--Day 33

Feb. 4th-That God’s presence would INVADE my giftings

(Ephesians 4:1-16)

I have a personal mission for this season of my life.  I believe that my purposes in a nutshell are to equip, empower and encourage.  I’m so grateful that God gifted me in three areas that start with the same letter as it makes it so much easier to remember who I am.

I look at my bookshelf and I see several books written on the subject of spiritual gifts.  I have DVD series on discovering my gifts.  I have taken several tests to determine how I am wired.  I have come across more articles than I can count that relate to this idea of determining what God has destined for me according to the way He has made me.  The topic of spiritual gifts has exploded over the last 20 years.  I think that these are great resources and I wish that I had written a book on the topic.  I could have made a killing except that the results of my test said that I wasn’t cut out to be a good businessman…que sera sera. 

Surely I jest…well, mostly I guess.  Four or five years ago I became enraptured with this idea of self-discovery.  The process of discovering my spiritual gifts put me into a place where I was asking God the same question over and over again.  “What did You make me to be?”  A picture began to emerge that resonated with me and I began to think of myself in those terms that I wrote in the first paragraph.

Fast forward to the present…does my life look any different just because I took a spiritual gift test?  No, but I do have a greater awareness of opportunities that I’m “gifted” in.  The effectiveness of knowing my gifts is directly proportional to my obedience to respond and move in them.  If I don’t respond to His leading, what does it matter if I know my gifts or not?

What I don’t like about this current gift fad is that it doesn’t account for a God who is transforming us into His image.  I can’t neglect His leading because “that’s just not my gift.”  God will ask you to do things that aren’t part of your makeup.  This passage says that it is God who gave those gifts.  It doesn’t say anywhere that God gives us some gifts and that we must now play the hand we’re given.  God gives gifts to accomplish His purposes which don’t always include our comfort, benefit or enjoyment.  A gift from God isn’t deemed good solely upon our desire to obey it.  It is deemed good because the Giver is good.

"Holy Spirit, have You not given me gifts from Your heart so that I would edify Your people and build Your Kingdom?  Your Word says to eagerly desire these, yet sometimes I'm not even AWARE of them.  I pray today that you would awaken the desire in my heart for Your gifts!"