Special gifts....

Last night, our church hosted a young man who has an incredible gift. He is called "The Jesus Painter." With music in the background, he painted three portraits of Jesus on large canvasses. They were amazing. Each portrait told a story that revealed the final pictures. Each of the focused on Jesus and his love and sacrifice for us.

What struck me about this was the fact that this young man has found a way to use his gifts to inspire, motivate and encourage believers. I also believe that non-believers could be amazed about this gift and be motivated to ask some questions about Jesus.

It got me to thinking..... Many times we put people and their gifts in a box. We say that if you want to serve God, then here are the ways that you can do it. We provide a list and tell people "Go for it." But what happens to those who have gifts that don't fit the stock lists that we have in mind?

I am afraid that in many churches they get ignored. They get told that the gift they have doesn't really fit. Eventually if that gift is not given the opportunity to bloom, it dies. Only God knows what opportunities the church has missed because we decided who God could use and who he could not.

One of the awesome things about God is his committment to diversity. No one person is exactly alike to another. Even if they are identical twins, they still have different souls, and often different gifts. God is so creative that even today, thousands of years removed from the Garden of Eden, God is still finding ways to create different people with different gifts and interests. It looks like He is not running out of ideas.

I write this as encourage to those of you who find yourself outside the box. Go on ahead and explore your giftedness. Figure out how you can glorify God through it and then go for it. For when you do that, you remind us that God uses all kinds of different people, with different gifts , for the same purpose: to glorify Him.

The Jesus Painter ended his testimony with a thought that really blessed me. "God is more interested in your availability, than he is in your ability."

I think that is pretty good theology.