Acknowledging the Call and Chasing Down Your Gifting

IT’S AMAZING WHAT THE SPIRIT SUGGESTS. In the quietness of our spirits, at times are whispered, the essence of a message so profound. This message came to me recently: regardless of your perception of the results—use the gift you’ve been given—that is the Divine expectation. Use the gift both in faith and in faithfulness. That, and your reward is assured.

Using Our Gifts in Faith

We don’t always see the true relevance of things. In fact, we rarely do. It therefore necessitates us to use or express faith—by going in advance of things, by acting without the fullness of certain confirmatory knowledge—this is hope (that which we cannot see) expressed in faith. We add confidence to our doubt as we step forward.

One thing we do have, however, is evidence of our gifting. And this is the Divine clue to us that we’re on the right track. We combine our judgment with God’s and at once the activity of good living, in good works, is commenced.

Using Our Gifts Faithfully

We don’t always feel like working. Indeed, we’re often tempted to sleep-in and take time out to rest our weary minds and bodies. Yet, using our gifts faithfully is about being obedient and self-disciplined. It’s about extracting for the Lord every sinew of value from our gift—for him.

This is not an out-of-control or greedy misuse of the gift; it’s about sowing continually and unswervingly in the use and ongoing development of the gift—for his purposes. This is where our motives are tested. The gift is not there to advance our chances to ‘get rich quick.’ It’s there for God’s glory—and this in the quiet way he has for us.

Accepting the “Quiet” Results – Going On With Him

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus mentions the word “reward” six times in six verses in Matthew 6:1-6. It’s part of an ongoing theme of his. What we do here and now for the pleasure and “reward” of humankind we do so without regard or concern for reward from God. This is fundamental to our motivation with regard for both heaven now and to come. Both revelations of heaven are pertinent to reward.

But, for us, we want often want to use our gifts in ways that will bring personal glory like fame, recognition, applause, kudos and the like. It’s the human urge. When we don’t receive this rampantly positive feedback we desire we’re tempted to be forlorn; this too is a test. The outcome God seeks is our acceptance of the quiet results.

To reject the worldly encore to use (or abuse) the gift for other purposes than God’s is a vast wisdom that, unfortunately, not many attain.

Life is about making decisions one way or the other; we can’t have it both ways. Popularity or Divine favour; it’s the same with money; money or God—we must choose (Matt. 6:24).

The right choice is to go with God regarding our unique gifting and truly sow into it, bringing it to its fullest, God-willed potential. There is a call of God placed on every single human being’s heart. He awaits our acceptance of response.

And we’re mad not to take him up—in our gifting we’re most abundantly blessed; the most blessed we could ever be. Who would not truly want this?

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.