“Do not neglect your gift…”
(I Timothy 4:14, NIV)
Many times, gifts that God Himself has given us lie dormant. We’ve allowed precious treasures He has entrusted to our care and stewardship to be hidden, inactive, and underdeveloped. Often, we don’t really venture outside of our comfort zones until the pressure we’re experiencing becomes almost unbearable. Then, under the weight, we finally yield and say, “Okay God – You win!!!” When a storm comes to shake us out of our grogginess and complacency, we cry out, “Mercy! Please help me, Lord!”
It is imperative that you cultivate, nurture, develop, and mature your gift. If it weren’t important, Timothy’s mentor wouldn’t have admonished him to “stir up the gift of God that is in you” (II Timothy 1:6). Was Timothy lazy, fearful, or just comfortable? Perhaps he just wasn’t operating at maximum efficiency and effectiveness. As a matter of fact, Paul seemed to admonish him to shake off his comfortable contentment with the status quo and stop settling for the mediocre and familiar.
If this sounds like a place where you find yourself, it’s time to give your gifts a wake-up call! Repent, pray for direction, commit to purposeful action, and GET MOVING! Your gift will take you into the arena of greatness (Proverbs 18:16). Be so focused and single-minded in tending to your gift and executing God’s purpose that external influences and distractions cease to matter. I’ll admit that it’s not easy or passive activity. Jude 1:3 admonishes us to “earnestly contend for the faith.” That means it’s going be a press. Sometimes we’ll have to fight; yet, Matthew 11:12 tells us “…the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” I dare say that your destiny is worth fighting for. The purpose of resistance, opposition, and pressure is to propel you toward opportunity – which is cleverly disguised as adversity! Will you polish your gift and seize the opportunity?
What will you do with the door opened by your gift?
The world anticipates your response…and destiny awaits your embrace.
© Copyright 2008 by Kayren J. Cathcart