“Tell me the choice you are concerned about today. What are the options you have considered? If you picture a future in a career path, what do you envision?
What input have you gotten from people who know you best? What would your peers say your talents and skills are? Do you value their insights into your life? Do you agree with them?
Are there any Biblical principles or directives that are guiding you? If so, what are they? As you pray, do you have a sense that God’s Spirit is leading you in a direction? Are you willing to do God’s will if He shows it to you clearly?
What are the doors that are open to you at this point? On a scale of 0-10, how well would you say you are obeying God and pursuing Him now? How will you be convinced that you know what God wants you to do?” [1]
Consider the long-term implications of your decisions.
If you are not where you should be, ask the Lord to get you on track. Make your request known to God with thanksgiving. God says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” [2] God will lead you.
The love chapter follows the spiritual gifts chapter. In the love chapter, the Lord tells us that no matter what our calling and gifting is, the foundation for making it work is love.
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” [3] All work unless done out of love is unprofitable.
In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Levite and Priest were highly trained in the Word of God. They had position and authority, but they lacked love. When they saw a person in need, they passed him right up. In America, people become famous and rich because they can do something better than others or because they look good. But do we ever stop and ask ourselves if this person is doing what he or she does out of love?
When thinking about our niche, we need to know what God wants. Not what the world wants.
For example, my passion is to speak and to write for the Lord, but the world is full of speakers and writers. I hear preachers who are better than me. When I look at the book section at Walmart there are many writers better than me. Who am I that I should serve the Lord in this way?
However, dollars and cents do not validate my calling. Popularity does not validate my calling. It is NOT about me. It is about love. God’s love!
In God’s economy, unless I have love I am nothing. There are a lot of great speeches and books that are going to burn someday, but what has been spoken, written, or done out of love for God and neighbor shall endure.
The world lightly values what is of great worth to God. The world does not value God. BUT embrace God anyway. God is the best employer. He pays good wages. He supplies all our needs according to His riches and glory.
God pays for what He wants done. Hudson Taylor once said, “God’s work done in God’s way will have God’s provision.
In regards to personal appearance, Dustin Hoffman recently asked the question, “How many interesting women have I written off because their outward appearance didn't meet my expectation?” It is so easy to rate people by their outward appearance and miss their great inner worth.
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” [4]
I like God’s economy. He takes people like Fanny Crosby, a blind woman and calls her to help seeing people see. She wrote some of Christendom’s most beautiful hymns. God takes people like Joni Eareckson-Tada, a quadriplegic, and calls her to teach people with operational limbs how to serve the Lord well.
Our Father is a Gardener. [5] We are in the best of care when we put ourselves in His care. Consider all the plant life He sustains! Let God cultivate you! Let God nurture you! Let Him fight off your pests and pestilences! In His hands you will bear much fruit.
When I was a boy, one uncle asked me, “Are you a conformist or nonconformist?” I aim to be a conformist to the will of God, and a non-conformist to the will of the world. I do my best for God and the herd when I be who God made me to be. My goal is to serve the Word of God and to testify for Jesus. [6]
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” [7]
Present yourself to God. Let God have you. Do not allow your lack of experience or ability to stop you from serving God.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” [8]
How do I become better? The answer is transformation!
Transformation is what made the Rocky movies so powerful. When that song “Feeling Strong Now” starts and Rocky Balboa starts working out, it is like, okay, I have been going nowhere, but now with an excellent mentor and steadfast commitment to the mission, I am going to win.
For me, the movie was never about Rocky becoming the heavy weight champion of the world. It was about me doing what God made me to do.
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment...” [9]
God has us at our best when He has us humbly serving Him. Proud people are hard to teach. Hard to mold! Who can tell them anything? They know it all. In their mind, the entire world is out of step with them. They are hard to work with. They are not team players. God prefers to work through a BODY of believers.
Good coaches build on positives but confront players who fail to put forth effort. Diligence is the difference maker between professionals and amateurs. “Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” [10]
Finally, consider this, God did His best for us when He gave us His only begotten Son. Should we not do the same for Him? Let us respect and cheer one another on in this game called life. God has given us gifts. Let God identify, cultivate, and make them produce for you. God knows our niche and He helps us fulfill it!
[1] Dr. Tim Clinton, Dr, Chap Clark with Dr. Joshua Straub, The Quick Reference Guide to Counseling Teenagers, Baker Books Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI 49516, © 2010, p. 155
[2] James 1:5-6
[3] 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
[4] 1 Samuel 16:7
[5] John 15:1
[6] Revelation 1:2
[7] Romans 12:1
[8] Romans 12:2
[9] Romans 12:3-5
[10] Proverbs 22:29
For me, the movie was never about Rocky becoming the heavy weight champion of the world. It was about me doing what God made me to do.
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment...” [9]
God has us at our best when He has us humbly serving Him. Proud people are hard to teach. Hard to mold! Who can tell them anything? They know it all. In their mind, the entire world is out of step with them. They are hard to work with. They are not team players. God prefers to work through a BODY of believers.
Good coaches build on positives but confront players who fail to put forth effort. Diligence is the difference maker between professionals and amateurs. “Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” [10]
Finally, consider this, God did His best for us when He gave us His only begotten Son. Should we not do the same for Him? Let us respect and cheer one another on in this game called life. God has given us gifts. Let God identify, cultivate, and make them produce for you. God knows our niche and He helps us fulfill it!
[1] Dr. Tim Clinton, Dr, Chap Clark with Dr. Joshua Straub, The Quick Reference Guide to Counseling Teenagers, Baker Books Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, MI 49516, © 2010, p. 155
[2] James 1:5-6
[3] 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
[4] 1 Samuel 16:7
[5] John 15:1
[6] Revelation 1:2
[7] Romans 12:1
[8] Romans 12:2
[9] Romans 12:3-5
[10] Proverbs 22:29
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