I'm excited to write about one of the best revelations I've been given about destiny. Simply put, you and I were put on this earth with specific gifts and skills to accomplish a unique purpose in life. We are all predestined!
So much of our culture causes us to focus more on what we don't have rather than what we do have. I fell victim to this way of thinking. For years I was held back in my mind by what I didn't have that others around me did. If I could have only been a faster runner on my cross country team, a better dancer, thinner, smarter, or more spontaneous, I thought I'd be able to accomplish my dreams. The enemy loved to torment me with these thoughts and keep my attention on my shortcomings because he knew that would keep me from growing into my full potential.
In the past year, God has given me a great visual for understanding why I had certain things and didn't have other skills. Psalm 139 talks about God making the most inner parts of us as he knits us together in our mother's womb. I picture God holding a huge scroll of paper in His hand with millions of traits, talents, and features and next to each one there is a checkbox. I imagine Him writing my name on the top of the checklist and then carefully examining each trait available and checking the boxes for the ones He gave me, knowing exactly what I need to complete the purpose He will call me to.
I actually had this realization when I was preparing for my last pageant, Miss Orange County. The Lord had called my attention to my strengths. He had made me to be a great tap dancer, physically attractive, emotionally strong, personable, and with the gift of communication/public speaking. On top of that, He has given me a heart that desires to help and serve in a specific way to young women. It became very clear that the skillset I've been given matched the position He was calling me into with pageantry.
It took me 22 years to start thanking the right person for my talents. As I wrote about yesterday with the painter and his painting, I too had fallen into thinking I had something to do with my strengths. Yes, I've worked hard, but even my desires to pursue certain dreams and my work ethic are gifts from God. I can take credit for nothing! I was given what I have because God checked the boxes on the checklist when He created me. I have been so humbled. Now, daily I offer my strengths and talents to the Lord and ask him to use them as he intended them to be used. Not to bring me attention, but to bring Him glory.
Joyce Meyer writes that "whenever we excel in an area, it is only because God has given us a gift of grace for it." I could not agree more. So today, instead of being down about what you don't have, start focusing on what you do have. If God didn't give you the same talent he gave your friend or sibling, its not because He loves you any less, but because the purpose He's given you doesn't require that skill! Ask God to reveal to you what boxes He checked on your checklist. There is nothing more encouraging to me than knowing I did nothing to inherit my strengths and can do nothing but offer them up to the one who gave them to me and with a heart of faith and obedience, watch to see how He'll use me to further His kingdom.
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