GIFTS

GIFTS MAKE FOR LESS STRESS AND MORE MONEY

Recently I did a multiple choice spiritual evaluation questionnaire. It took about thirty minutes, only 130 questions. I was able to quickly see and confirm the top three areas and gifts God called me to. I made the deliberate decision to study more on these gifts and diligently do them. Now things aren’t nearly as hard as before, the stress is less and the money is more.

In the beginning Adam and Eve were given gifts, work to do that they would enjoy. When they resisted and ended up out of their garden, that's when real toil and stress began. 

The Hebrew word for toil is amal.  It is defined as a wearing effort, worry of body or mind, grievousness, miserable, painful, sorrowful, and full of  trouble. Any time we get out of our intended Eden, our lives end up in hard toil. Peter told Jesus, “Master, we have toiled all night, and taken nothing” (Luke 5:5). Peter was a fisherman by trade, but it was time for him to make a change. When he toiled, it was night. He toiled in darkness and caught no fish, no provision for his family, no profit for himself or his crew, just hard labor that got him little to nothing. How often have we felt like Peter that night?

Jesus asked to use Peter’s boat. Even though Peter was at the end of a long and frustrating day at the job, he took the right step by letting Jesus use what he had.

Jesus told Peter to go out a little ways and throw in his nets to catch some fish. Peter was skeptical and only threw in one net—the old, rotten one. It was daytime now. Everyone knows you don't catch fish at midday. But in spite of his doubts, Peter tossed in his net and caught so many fish that his one net broke and he had to call his crew over to help bring in the overflow of fish. 

What happened is that Peter went from toiling in darkness to easy fishing in the daylight.  He profited so much from that one catch (some sources say six to eight months’ worth) that he was able to take care of food, taxes, bills, and other needs of his family, so that he could spend the next several months with Jesus.

Joseph, in the Old Testament, left behind the stigmatism of being the despised brother. Instead, he embraced his gifts received of his Heavenly Father, Who made him a highly respected, wealthy ruler in Egypt, the most prestigious nation of the world at that time.

Proverbs 18:8 reads: "A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth." God has put certain gifts in us that require some work to find, develop and refine, but they are not full of stress, mental weariness and hard toil and our gifts will prosper us. Like the scripture says, the “gift is like a precious stone.” At first it may be buried in the dirt, like a diamond in the ground. But when it’s found, it’s cleaned, cut to show off its greatest features, turned, and polished. It gains luster and value.

We can allow the Lord to utilize what we have, like Peter letting Jesus use his boat, Joseph embracing his God-given talents, you and me discovering and committing to our gifts. In return the Lord puts us in the perfect environment to refine and polish those gifts. We experience less stress and the Lord multiplies our supply.

Love, Carolyn