IN GIFTED STANCE

There are all kinds of ways to be gifted. Some are naturally, others come with experience or by the call of the Lord.

The big problem is being called or gifted in some situation carries with it certain responsibilities. As a follower of Christ it means above else being obedient. It doesn’t mean necessarily that you will necessarily get the same kinds of rewards as one would for being gifted in something the world values.

This doesn’t keep people from translating being gifted by God has having the same consequences as the daily chores of one’s hands. I wish that were the reality, but often it isn’t.

In God’s realm to stand in obedience and faith within the landscape of testing and ply one’s gifts that are given from him is a land where the flowers that grow may at times only be seen in Heaven. We might understand that with our souls, but our hearts and minds can still be slaves to our egos.

I think a good test for our attitude is to simply ask in true honesty why do we stand and serve? Is it because we are doing what he wants with the gifts he has given us or is it to try and draw attention to ourselves? The answer can be harder to admit to than we will necessarily always accept.

This is of course an old theme and one that isn’t all that hard to understand, but it doesn’t mean we necessarily accept it according to God’s will. It is up to each of us in our hearts to face this reality.

I was reading a comment by this one person the other day that was talking about the problems of dealing with “unfruitful” people and soil. Essentially the focus of this person’s view was that all soil was in fact fertile and no soil was truly hard as much as the hardness is in our hearts.

There is some merit to this fact and yet we do know just as the world a universe has a variety of landscapes, so the soil of soul and life is varied. The issue really isn’t about the quality of the soil. It is more about our willingness to work whatever soil God grants us to experience.

The soil of course on a spiritual level can be appreciated as being the hearts of others as well as the fruit of our own ministries. God doesn’t necessarily make sure that all the soil is exactly the same. This is about equality, it is about being will with whatever is our spiritual gift to use it according to his purpose.

That might mean serving in some desert where the labor is very demanding and the fruit very sparse. Or it can translate into being in the mountains where we feel very close to God and the landscape is so overpowering and breathtaking. We simply are called to be faithful to the land where we were called. And if that soil is in fact difficult and hard, then we face that reality with a grateful heart that God thought us capable enough to even till the soil. I didn’t say we would necessarily feel grateful, but I can’t help feel that is how taking a gifted “stance” was intended for those serving with obedience as the purpose instead of attention.