i had every sole intention to talk about a bumper sticker i saw on a car today. ive seen it 2-3 days in a row, but i guess it's fitting to include it in the new topic that just came to me while watching Steve Harvey host Praise the Lord on TBN. he made a statement that started ringing bells in my head: a passion and a gift is two different things. so whats your gift? have you asked (God)?
i sat there and thought for a minute...going through my mind what my passion(s) and what my gift(s) were and are. based on what he shared, a passion is something that you chase after because you feel like ur obligated to it. its a drive in you. a gift is something that was given to you that cant be taken away but with God...we still have to discover what that is. for some, it is easy to discover. for others, it takes a while. he went on to say that someone once told him that there's two important times in your life: 1. the day you were born 2. the day you discover why you were born
i feel very comfortable in the life God's granted me so far. he has allowed me to become a better giver and in turn, he has blessed me, covered me, allowed good people to be in my life and im grateful. but since starting this fast, since starting some other new ventures...im like, "Lord...WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO???" It's scary when you feel a little left out of God's loop. Questions go through your mind that possibly you missed that whisper you should have caught.
But I'm on Day 15 of A Call to Die (25 days to go) and the title is "The Risk of Grace". And it's teaching the lesson that real grace is walking in obediance in a radical situation. think about Peter, Paul and countless others who follwoed Christ despite not being aware exactly where Jesus was going.
It reminds that the same goes for following a gift versus seeking after a passion. There's risk. But the common thread is being able to decipher the difference in the direction that you should go....
one of the statements in this Day of the books says: If you and I are serious about following Christ, we can be assured of two things: suffering and God's strength to endue it in faith.
i think that statement brings great comfort to deciding whats a passion and whats your gift in this life. the fear of not knowing when or where to go makes us stay stagnant and deny the innate gift God gave each of us which is...is TAKE RISKS & ASK QUESTIONS.
and so the irony of all the day's events come back to the bumper sticker i saw the past few days: well behaved women rarely make history. God's really keeping my eyes open lately. im challenging myself to decipher my passions and my gifts to pinpoint my missions.
surely God has the answers for us..the question is: are we asking the right questions?
in case you're counting: it's day 11 of the fast.
