“Don’t deny the gifts you were born with.”
Upon waking this morning, that is what I heard the Lord say to me .
Last night, as I was going to bed, I asked for a sign, mainly about starting this blog. As you can probably tell, I am brand new to this blogging gig and have plenty of reservations about it. However, I know that writing is one of the gifts I have been given. With that word from the Lord ringing in my head, here I go.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
Don’t tell me you aren’t gifted. Because I won’t believe you.
Your gifts won’t look like mine. I can write and speak, but not everyone is good at those things. But it doesn’t matter what you’re good at. What matters is that you USE those gifts in every aspect if your life. At home, at work, at the grocery store, on the bus, at church, there is no place in this world that doesn’t have a desperate need for what God has given you.
For about 6 months now, I have been meditating on the reality that I have completely misunderstood what “ministry” means. Five years ago, I discovered that I was being called to ministry. But there were a lot of things I had to unpack, go through, and deal with before God gave me the next big piece. Turns out the biggest piece I had to deal with was the realization that I didn’t understand what “ministry” meant at all!
In my view from being raised in the 90s/2000s, I believed ministry was defined as becoming a pastor or a missionary. God has been graciously correcting my worldview since. I am a wife, a mom, and a high school library clerk. My highest education is a 2 year college degree. And in spite of these things that I view as my limitations, God decided that He will use me anyway. He opened my eyes to see that each of these little realms that I operate in daily are actually my mission field. My husband, my 3-year-old, my family, my high school kiddos, my church. They all need the grace God has given to me. That is my ministry.
So here is your homework this week: look around you. Really take a look at where you are and list 3 ways you can minister to those you are in contact with there. And I don’t mean you need to preach those people a sermon or anything along those lines. It’s actually easy. Who can benefit from your smile? Your kind word? Your craft? Your culinary skills? Your wisdom? (Yes, you have wisdom!) What little thing can you do to show someone you care? Start there. Be faithful with those small things and watch them grow.
I’m excited that you have come by my little patch of the world to see what lessons God is giving me to share with the world about this idea of Everyday Ministry. I hope you are blessed and come back often. Let’s grow together and minister to the world right where we are.
~Lynne
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