Talents

Introducing Paul. He is a 27 year old wizard who is full of wisdom and knowledge. Paul does a lot of the behind the scenes stuff but he is an incredible guy. He does a lot of Pastor Steven's research not only for his sermons but also for his books and any other information that is needed. He knows both Greek and Hebrew fluently and has a goal of speaking 8 different languages. The dude is legit and on fire for the Lord. These are the type of people I encounter every day. Just ordinary people doing the extraordinary things for the purpose of spreading the Gospel. He challenged me today that I want to pass on to you. In Exodus 36, a lot of information is given on the building of the sanctuary. But in the first verse it says, "So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.” That one verse is encouraging. All of us were given skills specifically for what God wanted us to do for His Kingdom. Everything is to be done for a greater purpose and we are not to sit back and complain or compare ourselves to other people. God has made us exactly the way He wanted and we are to use our gifts for His glory.

Another convicting verse is found in Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." What you are currently doing might seem like petty stuff. You may feel unimportant or that you could handle more responsibility or that you could be doing much more if you were in a different area of work. You may be in a situation where you think you can't be making an impact or you use the excuse that I have used often that I just am not around a lot of unbelievers. You may think that because you are not looking for the opportunities that God is putting you in. You may be so focused on wanting something else instead of appreciating and focusing on what God has put right in front of you. A lot of what we go through are tests of our character and integrity. God wants to see you be faithful in the little things so that He can bless you with greater things. He wants to see you have purpose in your relationships and how you can go out of your 'busy' way to say a kind word to someone or offer acts of service. Conversations about Christ occur more often when we purposely act like Christ to others.

This verse was applying directly to us interns. It may not seem like some of the stuff we are doing has much significance at the time, but it all does. The more we do, the less our supervisors have to do or worry about...the more it lets them get done...and so on...it's a chain of teamwork and in the end it allows Pastor Steven the opportunity to not have to worry about the behind the scenes operation of the church and focus on his powerful messages that has already changed the hearts of thousands of people. God is using people for mighty ways and everything you do is preparing you for something better. Acts 6 has the example of Stephen who was basically waiting on widows while the disciples were out spreading the Word. Stephen had to be faithful with the little responsibility he had even though he wanted to be out like the disciples. His obedience however, ended up giving him more responsibility which set himself up for the most significant moment of his life...that ended up being the reason for his death. An example of a life lived by faith. God just wants you to believe! ...Just believe...