Utilize your God-given Gifts

A few days ago I had car battery trouble. To be honest, it was an epidemic at Mt. Calvary. A couple others had the same problem this week. Car batteries are just annoying to me. The corrosion is an issue, and when they have issues they just go out in the most random places. By now most of you know that I am a system guy, so I called my father.  He told me to go to Auto Zone and have them test it, so I did.  Not only did Auto Zone test it, but they put in a new one too. Keith was the worker who helped me. Keith took me to the car and showed me how to use the battery tester. Let me tell you something, I have limited knowledge of how my car runs and how to fix its problems, and that is where it stops. It is not that I am not willing to learn, I just know my brain doesn’t work like that. I could barely figure out how to put more Freon in my car this summer. When Keith started showing me how to use the high tech battery tester, my relational gift kicked in. I was nice because he wanted to show me, but honestly at that point, he could have told me my battery was bad even if wasn’t and I would have believed him. This is why I stick to my gifts of relationships with the car guys I know. My mechanic is a guy whose son was at my old church. I have spent time mentoring his son and I have a relationship with his family. The last time Mindy had to drop me off at the mechanic she asked why we drive to 170 and Page to get the car fixed. (I think we are already spoiled after a year of living in Rock Hill where everything is so close.) I said, “We drive out here because I know this guy will take care of us and our cars.”

My relational side is necessary even in my car guy. Last week when my sister-in-law asked me about her car, I told her about my car guy and assured her that he would take care of her if she brought her car in. I have learned a very important lesson in life as I have grown in faith and realized how Jesus made me. I am relational, and therefore utilizing my God given gifts even plays out in how I take care of my cars. Sure, as I share my faith I have pushed this area of my life to make new connections and new relationships so I can share the message of Jesus. But behind the scenes, my God given gift of being passionate about relationships plays a part in almost everything I do.

This lesson was painful in the beginning. In high school I struggled through dating relationships, friendships, and family relationships. As I matured and my time of confession grew, I recognized the bitter pain I felt when I knew I had sinned against God. Being made with a passion to care for relationships, when I was hurting the relationship I had with God, it hurt the most. Jesus’ grace restored my relationship with my Creator (and continues to each day), and through that I began utilizing my God given gifts, specifically relationships.

Sometimes the areas where we are so painfully impacted by the sins we commit can lead us to understand how God made us. This is the outcome we want all believers to have, specifically at Mt. Calvary. My prayer is that He will lead you through a journey that helps you acknowledge and see your sin, raw and real as it is, then lead you to His grace, and even beyond that to see how God created you and how He can use you uniquely for His glory. Every season of life will lead you to utilize your God given gifts differently. Nonetheless, acknowledging Jesus and His impact in your life, it will help you treasure how He made you and how He prepares you to use your gifts in this world.