So Not My Gift
October 28, 2024 by Cynthia Ruchti
Filed under Daily Devotions, Worship
By Cynthia Ruchti
I caught myself saying it again the other day as I cleaned up the church kitchen after helping to serve snacks during fellowship time following the worship service.
Choosing how much to purchase and prepare for an unknown number of congregants is “sooooo not my gift.”
The family of a newborn is counting on me to provide their supper on Wednesday night. Me? I can cook. It’s not that. I actually cook pretty well. But I feel so much more comfortable writing a clever little poem for a baby shower than I do providing a meal. I told the deaconess in charge of scheduling meals for situations like this, “I found it funny, considering my crazy life this week. Rather than saying yes, I should have requested meals for ME!”
However, I know better than to look at my areas of giftedness as excuses. I can’t excuse myself from telling others about Christ because I don’t have the “gift” of evangelism. I don’t dare ignore people in need because I don’t have the “gift” of helps, or refuse to be hospitable because I lack the “gift” of hospitality.
God made it clear that by divine decree some of us would be more gifted than others in every significant area of service. But He also made it clear that He wants ALL of us to show hospitality (pathetic as my attempts will be compared to others with “the gift”) and share our faith and teach godly principles and act generously. Those of us for whom any one of those issues is “not our gift” have to try harder and be more intentional than those for whom it flows easily.
Can you fathom standing before the Lord when He asks why you walked past the homeless family and didn’t reach out your hand to help? “Not my gift, Lord. You know that. I’m into exhortation, remember? Didn’t you hear me tell them they shouldn’t have built their house on the flood plain?”
Let’s try another approach.
“Lord, that’s not my gift. I’m going to need Your help, big-time!”
His response? “I thought you’d never ask.”
PRAYER: Lord, sear into the muscles of my heart the “aha” of Your strength for my weakness, Your power freely available for my lack, Your ability applied to my inability. Servants don’t give out their own provisions; they dispense the provisions of their king. By Your Spirit, help me live like that’s what I’m doing.
“My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness,” 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV.
Today’s devotional is by Cynthia Ruchti, writer and producer of the radio ministry THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME and current president of American Christian Fiction Writers. Cynthia’s debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home—releases from Abingdon Press in Spring 2010. Cynthia writes stories of hope that glows in the dark. www.cynthiaruchti.com