GOD’S AMAZING GIFTS
ARE UNEXPECTED – and may be much more than we can imagine. So it may be a challenge learning to recognize what we have been given. No matter how difficult this seems, we can rely on the Holy Spirit to help with this. This can happen in so many different ways, depending on who we are and what will be meaningful to us. The clues are very often subtle, and as in everything, we are given a choice to pay attention to these clues or not. The culture has messages of its own, that tell us to ignore unknown experiences. Here again we have the choice to accept or not. The thing is God really wants us to be happy and feel fulfilled so God will not give up on us in our uncertainty or even fear. The culture has no such desire or intention. So because God loves us unconditionally, we will be given more clues and they will become more obvious and less subtle, to help us see our gifts. When we do recognize them, we next need to learn how to use them. This is a spiritual challenge as well as a practical one.
The very best way to learn to use our gifts is with the help of the Holy Spirit, one that it is uniquely qualified to do with us. There are limited ways, from a worldly point of view, where we can use our gifts without any help and still be able to use them on a practical basis. Only with the help of the Holy Spirit, will we be able to grow into using these gifts on a spiritual level. It is when we allow the Spirit to guide us that we will begin to see the complete potential of the gifts we are given. My writing is a good example of this. I have written before about how the act of writing was once so difficult it seemed painful to me. This was because I was trying to fulfill the unrealistic expectations of others. As I grew older, I began to enjoy it and found it was an expression of my deeper self. In the last ten years though, my writing has begun to be a deeply spiritual experience, where I am asked to channel the Holy Spirit. My ego is no longer involved in the outcome, and it is an awesome and rewarding experience I had never dreamed was possible. Many others have had similar adventures with their gifts, taking them into unimaginable experiences. The gift becomes a multi-faceted gift, where we are given the original gift and also the expanded gift with all its enlarged levels of experience. This is part of our spiritual life that will continue to grow, as we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and enhance our abilities beyond our dreams. Loving and amazing God, we are grateful that your have designed ways of supporting and guiding us, so we may begin to see and grow into our gifts. Help us to keep growing, to discover all the surprises you have for us, and then help us use them for the work of helping others and growing the love in the world. Amen. PEACE