Gifts

I have a sister in the Spirit who is an amazingly talented writer and painter. She recently painted over a beautiful seascape she had done a while ago and repurposed it into an absolutely beautiful picnic scene in a wide-open field compete with flowers and rolling hills. The kind of place where you can feel the presence of God in the breeze and hear the birds singing their praises to Him and you just know there are no bugs crawling around to ruin your meal, which has been perfectly prepared and will taste just awesome whenever you get around to eating but all you really want to do is bask in His presence because the scene was created for Divine fellowship.

If only we could take all of our mistakes and with the sweep of a skillfully applied paintbrush turn them into teachable moment; painless teachable moments, I might add. But that’s not how life works, is it? I think back to the scene in The Garden, you know THE Garden, when the talking serpent, (which should have been a tip off since none of the other animals talked, but somehow Eve overlooked this fine point), tricked her into tasting the forbidden fruit. From that moment on we’ve been learning things the hard way. It almost seems as if the more important the lesson, the more difficult the route we take to grasp it.

I’m in awe of my friend’s talent and how she can turn oceans into wide open fields and grass into flowers and creates mountains out of nothing. Just like the Father did all those years ago when He created the earth. He gives gifts to each one of us; the real talent is finding what He’s placed in us and operating in it. I Corinthians 12:4 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

Whatever He’s hidden in you, I urge you to find the gifts and use them to bless someone else and to grow and stretch yourself. Some of us are oceans, some of us are mountains. Some of us are oak trees, some of us are lilac bushes. Some of us may be songbirds and some of us may be hummingbirds. The point is, like all of nature, we add color and vibrancy to the world we are a part of. Find your gifts and take your place in this world. Give shade or fragrance, make music or color your world. Someone will appreciate your contributions and you can enjoy the gifts of those around you.

I am certainly no artist, so I appreciate those who are. I delight in their gifts and let them know how good God is to me through them as they continue to show me new insights into this glorious world I live in through their talents. Don’t hide your gift under a basket. Start letting your light shine today!