Using the Gifts God Has Given You

Another thought I wanted to throw out there while I'm on my "soap box":  

When people find out we are adopting from Ethiopia, some have said, "Oh, that is so great!  I could never do that!"  My first gut reaction is to say, "If I can do it, so can you!", but instead, I have had to stop and remember, "Oh yeah, I thought the same thing not too long ago."  God has put us on this long path to obedience and it has taken many years to get to where we are now.  And we still have many more years to grow and mature in this "Long Obedience"--a lifetime in fact. (See Eugene Peterson's book from which our blog title came).  God has directed our "baby steps" and has slowly revealed parts of His will for us on this journey.  He has orchestrated our gifts and talents in conjunction with certain people He has placed on our path (from those we went to H.S. with, college with, church with, etc.) to get us to where we are on this journey now. I want to try and be humble and say "Don't give us the glory for this act of obedience, give it to God."  But some small (prideful) part of me  says "We are doing something most people haven't or won't do" and I then I start getting "self-righteous".  I pray to God that He can help me with this pride and judgementalness.  (Trying to be transparent here).  I don't want to ever start patting myself on the back for this small act of obedience.  So many people in this world are giving of themselves and sacrificing SO much more than we are.  So, instead, I want to come to a place where I can feel "honored" and "humbled" that God would choose us to be used to show His glory.  And then ask Him what MORE we can do for Him.  I also want to use our experience to encourage and cheer others on to find out how they can glorify Him (and serve others) using their own special gifts & talents.  We can ALL make a difference in this world in some way!

I may not be making sense, but all this to say, find out what your gifts and talents are, what your passions in life are, and then find out what God's purpose for your life is--and then ACT on it.  Then you, too, can make a difference in someone's life.  It may not be adoption;  it could be something entirely different.  It could just be being nicer to those around you.  I could be that you give a compliment to someone without strings attached.  It could be that you help someone move (the ultimate in helping others :).  It could be a multitude of things....big or small.  God sees it all and loves it when we "love our neighbor as ourselves."   

So if you, too, are inclined to say, "I could NEVER do that,"  instead ask, "Lord show me how you CAN use me today to make a difference in someone's life.  How can I please You and give You the glory today?"

"Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10-11).