Since last Thursday, Leon and I have been so encouraged every day by the way the Lord has been working in our lives.
The thing I found most encouragement in was the regional leaders’ meeting in Keswick we attended with our church on Saturday. Other churches from our denomination in the northwest of England also attended. It was the first meeting in a series of 3, so they were mostly setting the stage for the other two meetings that will take place later this year. The people in charge of the meeting shared their vision for the training, as well as prophecy regarding the leaders in the churches.
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| Source: Wikimedia Commons |
They spoke on “unpacking” our spiritual gifts to use them in ministry and reasons why we may not have unpacked them yet. I only remember two of the reasons because they’re the ones that stuck out most to me.
The one that hit me most was the idea that I’ve packed my spiritual gifts away for a time. I’ve come to realise that when I was packing my life away to move to Carlisle that I packed away my spiritual gifts, too. While I’ve unpacked and settled in here for the last three months, I haven’t completely unpacked because I missed my spiritual gifts. In fact, it’s been so long that I’ve needed a reminder of what those gifts are! I’ve been looking for ways to serve in the community. Knowing what my gifts are and finally unpacking them will certainly help!
One reason I may not have unpacked my spiritual gifts is because of fear. Being reserved, I hold back on a lot of things. I also think I miss out on a lot of opportunities because of fear. The Lord has really grown me in this over the last year, but really convicted me regarding the use of my spiritual gifts. Even before coming to England, I was afraid to use the gifts that God gave me. Especially the ones I hadn’t used very often.
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| It was so hard not to be distracted with this view of the mountains in Keswick! We wanted to be out walking! |
Since then, I’ve decided I need to put myself into situations where I can exercise these gifts that God has given me. I’m not sure what that will look like, but I’m encouraged and looking forward to what God will do.
We all love to receive gifts. Why is it, then, that it’s often hard to get them unpacked?
Do you have any gifts that have gotten packed away recently? Why haven’t they gotten unpacked yet? What will you do about it?
