A friend recently shared something that was very meaningful, which triggered some musings on my part:
(Excerpted from a blog by Susie Larson...
God has wired you uniquely for a distinct purpose. He's graced you with gifts to offer to a world in need. He's writing a story with your life, and it fits you perfectly. Not every battle is yours to fight, and not every wrong is yours to right. Yours is not to be understood but to understand. It's not to win the favor of man; it's to walk in the favor of God. Jesus wants you to trust Him, and that's enough. His assignment is why you're here. Sometimes you'll feel in over your head, and other times you'll feel sure you're not doing enough. But your mission is not up to you. Nor is it up to the masses. Your calling originated in the heart of God and will be completed by the hand of God.
Which prompted my reply:
Interesting that she would talk about being "graced with gifts." We talked about this very thing over breakfast yesterday.
DH was talking about the pastor's recent sermon (David and Goliath) and he further reflected about how, throughout the Bible, different people were anointed for specific tasks... but people today don't think they have been anointed. Worse still, they doubt that they have been "gifted" to do much of anything for the Kingdom. I came to the conclusion that people today shy away from the term "anointed" because it can have a religious connotation, or they don't believe that they have been given certain gifts to accomplish what God has for them because we make the mistake of thinking God wants us to take out Goliaths.
As DH pointed out, God anointed Betsal'el in Exodus 31 to do metalwork and "all manner of workmanship"... not to take out Goliath but to GLORIFY GOD with the skills God gave him.
To be sure, there have been and will always continue to be those people or experiences that are the equivalent of 'Goliaths' in our lives, but if God is for us, who can be against us? When the enemy comes at us with his agenda of abortion, pornography, racism, or confusion and disbelief about who God Created us to be (think gender dysphoria and homosexuality), are we saying with David, "... 'You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the Name of יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of the armies of Yisra’ĕl, whom you have reproached.'?
I love (LOVE!) that Susie goes on to say, 'It's not to win the favor of man; it's to walk in the favor of God. Jesus wants you to trust Him, and that's enough. His assignment is why you're here...'
In the current whirlwind of cancel culture and COVID fear, and mask/vaccine shaming, and Antifa riots and... and... and... fill in the blank of the many ways the enemy has tried to shift our focus from our calling and anointing, it's not hard to know what God has anointed us to: What resonates with us when we look around and see the lies of the enemy taking ground in the lives of those around us? THAT is what He has anointed us to do.
- Speak the truth in love,
- serve one another with gladness,
- feed the poor,
- teach little children The Way,
- lift each other up.
"...your mission is not up to you. Nor is it up to the masses. Your calling originated in the heart of God and will be completed by the hand of God."
I believe it.
