YASociety - OutsidersSample

Don’t shelve what you have to offer

By Emily Lenton

I love a good spring clean. Rummaging through clothes, finding old birthday cards and flicking through photos from years ago. I was sorting through things recently and found a journal I’d never used before. Beautiful leather binding held together hundreds of empty, unlined pages.

Why had I never written in this? Before I could pick up a pen to begin using the book, multiple thoughts popped into my head.

“I don’t have anything that important to say.”

“What if I start writing and make a mistake?”

“Maybe I should just leave it on the shelf. It’s safer up there.”

I considered placing the journal back. But what good would it do up there? That’s not what it was designed for.

How often do we do this in our own lives, with our gifts, talents and abilities?

Each of us have been created with purpose, designed so intricately and specifically to outwork the mission of Jesus Christ (Psalms 139:13-16, Ephesians 2:10). Yet, it can be so easy to shy away from opportunities given to us and discredit what we can offer. Whether it be lies of inadequacy, fear, uncertainty or complacency - it can be tempting to stay up on that shelf.

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.” Various forms. This isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ approach. How God uses you, your gifts and abilities, might look different to other people in your circle. But that doesn’t mean what you can offer is more or less important than anyone else.

1 Corinthians 12:4 unpacks this by stating, “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.”

Consider the opportunities you have been given, how the Lord has created you. Are there areas in your life that He has sparked a desire in your soul to see change in? Talents He has blessed you with? Who has He placed around you that needs to encounter His love? Perhaps these things aren’t just happenstance, but heavenly appointments.

And the best part about stepping out and operating in our giftings is that we don’t have to do it on our own - the Holy Spirit wants to partner with us in this and (*spoiler*) He’s the one who does a lot of the heavy lifting!

Today, listen to His promptings. Ask Him how you could use your gifts for the Kingdom. Are there people in your world you could share your testimony with? Someone you could bless with a coffee and a smile? A serve team you could jump onto on a Sunday?

Stepping out can be daunting, but we weren’t created to sit and gather dust, don’t shelve what you have to offer.

Prayer

Father, thank You for the way You have designed me, destined me and placed me where I am to glorify You. Holy Spirit would You help us today to use what You have given us, to work in us and through us to further Your Kingdom. Thank You that You are our advocate, our helper and our friend. Amen.