Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Although we are at the beginning of a new Christmas (not holiday) season, the gifts I am writing about today are the ones God’s Spirit bestows upon His children. Paul said that “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He gives them to each one, just as He determines.” (I Corinthians 12:11) To me, it is a reminder that the Lord determines everything about them, including who He gives them to and when and how they are to be used. One example of this is the account in 2 Kings, Chapter 3, concerning the prophet, Elisha. When he was summoned to prophesy before the kings of Israel and Judah concerning their impending battle against the Moabites, the prophet needed a harpist so that the hand of the Lord would come upon him and enable him to employ his gift of prophecy.
If you are a child of God, you too have spiritual gifts which are given for your benefit, the benefit of others, and for His glory. If you are led by His Spirit, the Lord will either provide an open door, or else He will reveal to you when and how to use them. If you want to use them in your own time, and not at the Lord’s leading, besides not having a good effect, it may cause more harm than good. In Elisha’s case, he was “out of it”, so to speak. Perhaps it was because he was in the presence of Joram, the ungodly king of Israel, and son of Ahab, a man for whom he had very little regard. Whatever the reason, he needed help to get “in the Spirit” before he could prophesy correctly. The truth is that all of us are in the same position. There are times that, for some reason or another, we just “don’t have it” and we can’t use the gift or gifts God has given us. That may also explain why I don’t write these blogs every day. Many times I don’t write them because of other commitments, but from time to time it is because I just “don’t have it.”
Don’t get too down on yourself the next time you feel “out of it.” Keep in mind that, just like Elisha, we can always call on God to send us the help we need. Although, we may not have a harpist at our disposal, we always have access to God through prayer and meditation or even turn to good inspirational resources such as bible reading, devotionals, or music. We will all be “out of it” from time to time but thanks be to God, we don’t have to stay there.
Memory Verse for the week: (Romans 14:4) “Who are you (we) to judge someone else's servant? To his own Master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
