Spirit-showers

“I’m tired of trying to be something I’m not, but the thing is, I’m not so sure any more just what it is I’m supposed to be!”

This was just one reaction to a part of the seminar called “A Passionate Life,” designed by Walt Kallestad and Mike Breen.

This particular week’s focus was on discerning one’s spiritual gifts, that ministry for which God had uniquely created each of us.

As we continued to read and discuss, a visual image related in the readings caught our imagination: It’s like “standing under a bucket of God’s grace.” That’s when you know you’re in your God-created element, living into and using the unique gifts and talents God created you with.

“Wow. I could really handle a whole bucketful of God’s grace falling on me right now!” This was the same woman’s response after reading this image in the A Passionate Life booklet.

That began a discussion of what it felt like to try to be something God didn’t create us to be. Pretty soon we don’t know what we’re supposed to be doing. We lose track. We move farther and farther from that awesome cascade of grace falling on us, strengthening us and blessing us.

God creates us in community for times just like these. As we walk this life together, we are called to be mirrors for one another, helping each other see the grace-filled gifts and talents we are all created with.

Sometimes we get so far away from God’s purpose for our lives that we truly feel tested by God (and many times that we’ve failed).

This Scripture reminds us that God is not the tempter. “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God;’ for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. … Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:13,16-17)

No, indeed, it is God who is coaxing and leading us toward that special purpose and life-calling for which He has created us!

So, how do you know? Out of all the possibilities that bombard us each day, how do we know which are from God? Where do we belong? Many times we find out by trial and error. That means we try it out. Do we feel God’s grace falling on us as we make the choice - or do we just feel, well, tried?

Where is God pouring grace in your life right now? Where are the “spirit-showers” refreshing your soul? Just like plants, whose roots grow toward water, we too will find growth and fruitful living moving toward and under those bucketfuls of grace. May God richly bless and lead you as you continue on your life’s journey, and may you live each day under the shower of God’s grace — by the bucketful.