We talked about God’s Will in general in the previous devotionals.  Now we need to get more specific… we need to talk about the individual.  Now I know you all want to hear more about me as an individual, but being as humble as I am, we’ll talk about you.  A bit.  Then we can get back to me.

There are two types of God’s Will.

1.  General Callings

2.  Individual Callings General Callings are God’s Will for everyone in general.  Stuff like love your neighbor, don’t murder, don’t listen to rap music.

Individual Callings are God’s Will specifically for you.  You are supposed to witness to Billy, but not me.  You are supposed to be a nurse and I’m supposed to be a ninja.  You’re supposed to teach Sunday School and I’m supposed to eat doughnuts.

The thing to note before I move on is that you still figure out both types of God’s Will the same way… Knowing God’s Word + Believing God’s Word + Applying God’s Word = Doing God’s Will We might just start with different verses. What are these verses that speak about our individuality?

1CO 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [28] And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all have gifts of healing?

Now what does this passage mention that separates us from one another? Gifts. God has given us all different gifts.  And I’ll expound on this some to help us flesh it out a bit more.

God has given us all…

1.  Gifts 2.  Talents 3.  Resources

Gifts + Talents + Resources = Individual Callings

Gifts – would be stuff like the passage above, being good at general area of life – the gift of teaching, music, administration, hospitality, compassion, etc.

Talents – are a little more specific, playing guitar, public speaking, math, writing, eating doughnuts.

Resources – are things in your life that make you unique from others so you can serve an a particular area. Money, family background, your personality, mistakes you’ve made, hardships you’ve faced, what you look like, physical handicaps, location, race, transportation, access to doughnuts.  That list goes on forever.

Now you match all these things together with a particular person and situation to see if you’re the one to go through a door God has opened.

Here’s an example: Who should minister to Sally, you or me? There’s a girl who is dealing with bulimia.  She think she’s fat and feels worthless. Let’s say you are a girl that God didn’t give a great metabolism, so you’re a little chunky.  You have dealt with self-esteem issues in the past and have dealt with bulimia too. Now there’s me – the epitome of physical fitness, had no self-esteem issues growing up and eats two dozen doughnuts daily. Of the two of us, who do you think she’ll listen to more?  That would be you.

In the body of Christ, you might be a hand, Billy is a toenail, Sally is a pituitary gland and I am a belly button.  We all have different roles. If something needs to get picked up, you need to know that you’re the hand so you can do it. If you don’t do it, either it doesn’t get picked up, or other people, like the mouth or the feet have to try to pick it up and it doesn’t get done as well. And at the same time these people are trying to do their job and yours, so they get overworked and burnt out.

So what do we do?

We have to do two things:  1.  Take stock of your gifts, talents and resources and  2.  Then match these gifts, talents and resources up with situations and people.

1.  Take stock of your gifts, talents and resources.   Ask your friends and family to help you think about what your gifts, talents and resources are. Don’t just think about the type of job you might have, think of things like what types of people are you good with.  Think of the things you’ve dealt with in the past that may help others.  You’ll have to really think about this for a bit.

2.  Then match these gifts, talents and resources up with situations or people (Open Doors). Situations.  Situations would be things like which job should I take, which house should I buy, how should I raise my kids, should I join the worship team, should we host Thanksgiving dinner? People. Think about the people in your life.  Do you have something that clicks with them?

Remember, ministry is about relationships.  So everyone you come in contact with is a possible open door, a possible calling.  You’ll just need to know if and when your gifts, talents and resources come into play. So, when you figure those two things out, then you’ll know a bit more where in the Body of Christ you fit, and can accomplish God’s Will.

Now please excuse me while I minister to these doughnuts.

RO 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. [4] Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. [7] If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; [8] if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness – the faithfulness to sit down and figure out what your individual callings are. Take time to pray: Pray for wisdom to be able to figure out what your gifts, talents and resources are.