Life is full of surprises, good and bad. As much as
that sounds like a lame fortune cookie message, sometimes we forget that it is
all a mixed bag. When I look back on my life, some of the surprises I got were
awesome, like marring my husband. I honestly thought I would never get married.
I thought I was too awkward and self-deprecating to be able to land a stud like
the one I married. Some of the surprises were heart-wrenching like when my
grandma died. My heart broke into what felt like a million pieces and even
though that was over a year ago, I still grieve for her and miss her terribly.
Some of the surprises were scary like when we had to relocate from Minneapolis
to Cincinnati and we knew nobody. But all of these surprises where part of
God’s plan and they all played a role in my life to mold me into the kind of
person that He needs me to be to further his kingdom.
You play a vital role in furthering God’s kingdom
too. Don’t look behind you, I’m talking about you! Yes, you. I know your life
is messy. I know you’ve done things you wish you could take back. I have too.
None of us are squeaky clean and yet God views us as valuable. These past few
months, I have been learning about how much God loves me - us. Even though we
feel, as mamas, that we have to be strong; we still get to be God’s baby girl. Can
you just take a minute to let that nugget of truth sink down deep inside you? We
are His baby girls. We are treasured by God. Treasured. This fact means that God has plans for our life that
will also have value and while our purpose for this life may seem small, the
ripple effects are going to be huge. Sometimes those divine plans can seem
ambiguous. After all, I am a thirty-something mom who has been out of the work-force
for almost three years – you better believe I too have wondered how I can
further God’s kingdom. So the question becomes, what does God want to do with
my life?
We are going to work through this question with a
series of three articles that will unpack information to help us determine what
God’s plan for our life is that will honor His kingdom. First, we are going to
focus on identifying who God made us to be because we need to know ourselves
and our strengths before we can determine how we can be used. This is going to
require some self-reflection, so if you are struggling with figuring out God’s
will for your life, don’t just hastily read through this. Pour yourself a cup
of coffee, grab a notebook, get comfortable and allow yourself to really reflect
on the fabulous woman that you are.
In your notebook, I want you to write MY
FANTASTIC SKILLS. Yes, put that adjective, ‘fantastic,’ in your title. As
women, we have a tendency to belittle our strengths, but God did not create us
to be timid. 1
Timothy 1:7 says, “God did not give me a spirit
of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
You are not “just a single mom” or “just a stay at home mom” or “just not good enough.” Remember,
you are God’s baby girl and because of that, you have a lot to offer. I am
going to help you get started with your list of skills. Underneath your title
of MY FANTASTIC SKILLS, I want you to write “A desire to be a better
mama and woman” because that much is already true if you are partaking in this
exercise. Now it’s your turn. I want you to take some time and write down
attributes/skills/feelings that you positively display. I know it feels strange
to write about yourself in this way, but give it a try. I promise there is a
method to my madness. If I were to do this exercise, my list may look like
this:
MY FANTASTIC SKILLS
-desire to be a better mama and woman
-organized
-empathetic
-good story teller
-welcoming hostess
-easily amused
-make delicious guacamole
-responsible
-nice handwriting
-planning
-writing
After you have made your list, study what you
wrote. You should be able to make connections to many of the items on your
list. If we use my list as an example, we can gather that I probably have decent
administrative skills based on words I used like, ‘organized’, ‘responsible’, ‘planning’,
‘writing’, and even ‘welcoming hostess’. Or you may have looked at this list
and thought maybe I have some teaching skills based on many of the same words
like, ‘organized’, ‘responsible’, ‘planning’, ‘writing,’ but adding to that, ‘good
story teller’ and ‘empathetic’. Group your words together and see what patterns
you can make based on what skills you wrote, then give each group a title.
Everyone has skills. Everyone is good at something.
Every one of you who did this exercise had at
least one thing to write under your skills because remember, I started you
off with one. These are things that come from simply being made in God’s image. Genesis 1:27“So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them.”
God is good; therefore we have good in us. However, those who have accepted
Jesus Christ as their personal savior also have been given spiritual gifts. Romans 12:6-8 tells us, “We have different gifts,
according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it
in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching,
let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing
to the needs of others, let him give generously if it is leadership, let him
govern diligently, if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
Spiritual gifts are different from the positive qualities that everyone
possesses. They are reserved only for those who choose to follow the Lord and
should be used to further His kingdom. Some of you are sitting on the fence,
wondering what God’s will for your life is and yet you haven’t made that
commitment to give your heart to the Lord.
If you want to know God’s will for your life; if
you want to receive a spiritual gift; if you want to revel in the grace and
forgiveness that only God can give, then consider that our Heaven Father, the
One who considers you His baby girl, is
calling you to walk more closely with Him. If you don’t have a personal relationship
with Him, maybe that nudging you feel is Him pleading with you to let him into
your life.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus wants to take your yolk. He wants to give you rest. But he also want you to make that choice. All it takes is a simple conversation between you and God. You could say is
something like this:
Lord, thank
you for loving me so much that you consider me your baby girl. Thank you for
not giving up on me. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. Please forgive me
for things I have done wrong and help me to make choices that are honoring to
you in the future. Please come into my heart and help me every day to walk
closer to you and to do your will.
If you prayed that prayer, you need to know that a
huge party is going on heaven right now because of you! You are now a permanent
part of the family of Christ and you can never be snatched out of the
hand of Jesus –
no matter what!! The Bible says so! John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” Woo-hoo!!
Now, let’s get on to the gifts! The next part is
going to take a little chunk of time, so set some aside in the midst of your
busy day to sit down and take the Spiritual Gifts test. (http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/test/adult)
When you are finished you should have at least one gift that is predominate but
you may even have two or three. In your notebook, underneath MY FABULOUS
SKILLS, I want you to write MY SPIRITUAL GIFTS and then list the
gifts that you were given based on the assessment.
Reflect on your skills and your gifts. Maybe even
make a list of how you are currently using your gifts and skills or how you
would like to use them. Then spend some time in prayer. Ask God to tell you
what he wants you to do with what he has given you. It is okay to ask - in fact, it is encouraged! 1
John 4:14-15 says, “This is the confidence we
have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he
hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we
have what we asked of him.”
He is always pleased when we want to know how to bring glory to Him and to
further His kingdom. This is your homework until the next time we meet. Use
your notebook to write down nudging that you think may be from God. There are
no wrong answers here; just the opportunity to reflect on identifying who God
made you to be.
**Originally written for Emerge Mothers Academy Parenting Class**
