Gifts of God: Walking in Your Spiritual Giftedness

I wonder who, besides me, loves to take a good quiz?  Over the years, I’ve taken hundreds!  I can tell you ALL about me… ‘Which American Girl Doll am I?’  Hello, Felicity! Yay!  I always really liked her!  From the ‘Strawberry Shortcake Characters Quiz’ I found that I am most definitely Blueberry Muffin!  Hurrah!  For those of y’all who know me and MY Girl, you will surely know that she inherited my love of quizzes, too; we took dozens when she was little!

Recently, I re-took “The 5 Love Languages Quiz,” by Gary Chapman, because I really, really love this one!!!  Yep!  Y’all guessed it!  I’m STILL a ‘Words of Affirmation!’ Kind-of-Girl!  That’s probably why editing my articles is always so so so hard on this words-loving Texas Girl!!!

Once, while teaching Bible Study, I taught a lesson about four different women from the Bible and then had my Bible Study ladies divide into groups for that class session, based upon which Bible figure they were!  Talk about a popular class!!!  One of my favorite ladies literally stood in the middle of the Chapel, confident that she was ‘gifted’ enough to fit into all the groups!!!  I really loved her spirit!!!

And, you may remember, several years ago, ‘Spiritual Gift Assessments’ were quite popular in many churches.  Our church took part and I was quite eager to learn more about myself!  I was not at all surprised to have my God-given gifts of teaching, encouragement and faith, verified afresh. 

Many of the comments that I hear, and have heard for decades, from family, friends and strangers alike, is that I am “such an encouragement!” “I’m a ‘burst of sunshine!” “I’m a ‘breath of fresh air!” and my encouragement is a “help to the hearts!” of many!!!

Y’all!  Let me be clear, these gifts that I’m describing, are gifts!  Truly, they are gifts from Our Father to me.  And, let me let y’all in on a big secret; He has gifted each and every single one of His children.

Why, some of you may wonder?  Why would He do this?  It is because He has called us to live as one body…

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.  So it is with Christ.”

~~~1 Corinthians 12:12~~~

As one body, a body of believers, He would have us spend our lives truly living and embracing these particular gifts that He has entrusted unto us, so that we might strengthen and hearten the body.

Our Father specifically gifts each of His children, according to His perfect plan for our lives…

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

~~~Romans 8:28~~~

Knowing, as He does, the eternal plan for each of us, He has provided in each of us, His grace to be a comfort, a shepherd, a leader, a minister…for everyone that we encounter.

As someone from a Women’s Ministry background, I can tell you that there is great joy and delight in my spirit, when I see a woman living her life within her spiritual gifts.  Why?  It is because she is then in perfect harmony, both with Him, and with herself.

I will also tell you how rare this is!  I remember being on a family trip, many years ago, and I was, at the same time, right at the beginning of teaching a very popular Bible Study that I had written!  We were at Disney World, in Orlando, Florida; a place filled with women from all over the world.

Now, you would likely think that in a fun and festive spot, such as Disney World, there would be women everywhere, literally everywhere, walking along on Our Father’s paths for them…literally high-fiving one another, about His Greatness and Graciousness!

Y’all!  Not even close!  I saw less than a handful of women experiencing this type of blessed joyfulness during our stay. 

And Y’all, what made this all the more difficult for me to bear, was having to endure the heart-breaking reality that I was not one of those women.  I was devastated, absolutely wrecked, to realize this!

Now, I know that y’all are wondering, how could this possibly be?  How could this possibly have been true in my life?  A woman actively walking in the Call of God on her life?  Because indeed, Our Father had blessed me with the gifts of teaching, encouragement and faith!  Additionally, I was in the midst of actually teaching an extremely popular Bible Study for an ever-growing group of women… I had written it and they were loving it and being helped by attending!

Quite simply, I will tell you that I believe that the very act of walking in our spiritual giftedness is the most contested aspect of daily life for women this entire world over!

Let me be clear, Y’all, before we go any further together! 

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, heart, soul, or spirit, after being a believer since the tender age of 7 and a devout, passionate follower of Christ since I was 27, there is nothing more contested in a woman’s life than whether she will come to walk in HER spiritual giftedness!!!  In Her Own Spiritual Giftedness!!!  Absolutely Nothing!!!  Every Single Thing Rests Upon This Alone!!!

I can tell y’all that I’ve never written words that have mattered more!

Now, if this is such an important event in a woman’s life, I know that you are undoubtedly wondering, “Who would possibly contest it?”  Well, sadly, the list is quite long…other women, boyfriends, husbands, family members, colleagues, neighbors, fellow Moms, in my case, those who had come to feel insecure about the impactfulness of my Bible Study…in fact, how long do y’all have for me to keep going with this list?

And it was during that special time in Disney World, that I came to see quite clearly, that even though I was surely walking in my giftedness from Our Father…I was being contested at every point along my path.  This realization was stunning for me to come to take in!  Because indeed, for quite some time, I had been well-aware of feeling discouraged, stymied, ‘less than’ and, at somewhat of a consistent disadvantage, in the confident expression of my calling.  In the joy of my relationships.  In the power and peace of my caring for myself inside the daily round and work of living out my giftedness!!!

And while the list that I’ve given us is indeed quite lengthy, our biggest enemy is literally our enemy.  Cast from Heaven, the tempter has hated women, the beauty in Our Father’s Creation Story, from the very beginning.  As we read about later in Scripture, from the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 28,

12 ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD Says:

“ ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.  13 You were in Eden, the garden of God…17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.’ “

~~~Ezekiel 28:  12-13, 17~~~

The enemy’s greatest joy, after his fall, is to cause women everywhere to doubt their worth, beauty, intelligence, and kindness…to doubt themselves.  Only then, is he momentarily satisfied; but soon, he once again begins to needle, bother and unsettle them.

But, once a woman understands the Gifts Our Father has given to her, she can begin to walk in them…permanently. 

Once I came to reflect upon and understand this truth, this truth that is found in the heart of God’s Holy Word, my life began to change…permanently.

Because, only then will a woman begin to reflect HIM!!!  That is the greatest joy of being a woman who, in her giftedness, loves and serves the Lord.

“From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.”

~~~Psalm 50:2~~~