Proverbs 18:16 A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
Ex. 31:3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass. In Exodus chapter thirty-one, we read the account of how God instructed Moses to put Bezaleel and Aholiab in charge of building the tabernacle and all the furnishings for the priests’ use in the tabernacle. God instilled an artistic gifting with God-breathed abilities in these men that would create beautiful workmanship for the full completion of the tabernacle to be used by the chosen people of God to worship in accordance with God’s will. The Lord had created these men with special anointed gifts that would be needed when the time was right to be unwrapped, so to speak, for the time and place of God’s choosing.
What gifting is still within you that has not been unwrapped yet? The number of unopened gifts that are just lying around in people’s lives is fading over time and may become lost forever. Many of us can clearly see the gifts in others that are dormant and wasting away, but cannot see the unopened gifts in our own lives. Are these gifts hidden from us to be opened when God says the time is right? Are we to help each other unwrap these gifts in God’s timing for the use of the body of Christ? Eccl. 3:1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
How often have you heard someone say, “If I just had the ability they have, I would do this or that. I wouldn’t be frivoling a gift like that away.” And yet, most of the time, the person saying these things has unopened gifts of their own that are clearly seen by others. It almost seems like a form of spiritual nearsightedness. Every person created by God has been created for a purpose, with a purpose, and on purpose. Jer. 1:5a Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
The Lord has given each one of us a gift in Christ for our personal growth and for the blessing of others. Plus, God’s gifts toward us are full of grace for our personal fulfillment on this earth, and the time we are in it. Eph. 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. We have also been given ministry gifts for the church body to help perfect and mature the people who are part of the Lord’s body. Eph. 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. It seems that we are awash in gifts and abilities being given to us from God all the time. However, we are not seeing it.
Perhaps it is time to step forward with the gift you know you have in Christ and use it for the kingdom of God. There are all kinds of needs in the body of Christ, as well as in the world. The gift you have and are not using may seem like no big deal to you, but it may be needed by someone who would see it as the biggest deal they have ever had in this earth. Maybe if we used the gifting God gave us, we would start to see the unopened gifts at our feet waiting for us to dive in and open them with honest enthusiasm like a child on Christmas morning. Then there would be a lot of oohs and ahhs of appreciation for all the goodness God has lavished on us.
This will have to be done by faith because even our faith is as much of a gift as healing is. We just need to use it in all of our life’s situations – including finding our gifts. 1 Cor. 12:9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. Gifts and blessings are coming at us all the time. Let’s open them up and fill the church and world with the anointed love of God that has been poured out for everyone. Let us be generous with the gift of life God has given those who are in Christ. May your gift in God bring you peace and blessings.
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