Many times we ask ourselves why God dealt us the hand we were given.  Mainly because we would rather have been dealt a better hand, with more talent, better looks, or in my case, some understanding of grammar.

So why did God make me this way? There’s physical things like our gender, race, height, attractiveness. But there’s also things like your personality, your talents, things you’re terrible at.  Maybe you’re funny or boring, smart or dumb as a rock. Then there’s cards like our environment – where were you born, into what kind of family, into a certain economic class.

So if God hands out all these cards, don’t you think if God wanted to make a super Christian who could minister to a lot of people that he would make that person attractive, charismatic and wealthy so we could carry out his will even better? But the thing is these awesome things don’t necessarily make a good minister. Listen to this example of God making someone a certain way…

JN 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. [2] His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” JN 9:3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

God had him born a certain way so his life could glorify God. Dude.  There you go.  Same with the rest of us.

While you think the traits you have might be negative, God has a reason for it, and that reason is so you can glorify him. What if God needed someone to minister on a cancer floor in the hospital… It certainly won’t be me, for some reason I always look mad and I find it difficult to find words of comfort.  God would have someone that didn’t look intimidating, could speak gently and had a kind personality.

What kind of person do you think God would want to minister to girls with eating disorders?  Again not me, or a rich supermodel.  God would probably use someone they could relate to – a girl who isn’t a stick.

We tend to think that a Christian who was born with a deficiency is somehow incomplete, that they need to be healed.  But God created you a certain way and placed you in a certain area of life so that you can use all of that to minister to a specific type of person.

It’ll be more effective for someone who’s parents are divorced to minister to someone who’s parents are going through a divorce.  It’s easier for someone who has cancer to minister to someone who just got diagnosed with it.

Our physical, personal and environmental attributes make us all a little different.  And that is intentional on God’s part – because together we make up the body of Christ. Another way to look at it is God made a bunch of different keys that open different doors of ministry.

So what do we do?

We have to match up two things:

1. Figure out what kind of doors your key fits.

2. Pray for wisdom so you’ll see the door, and for faith to unlock it.

We are the body of Christ.  We look different.  We have different functions.  We have different roles. So embrace the fact that God made you the way he did for a reason – and that reason is so that you could glorify God more. When you accept that he made you as you are for a reason, you’ll start to see where in the body of Christ you belong.  And whole new areas of ministry will open up for you. These ministries are all over.  To individuals, to family members, to friends and coworkers.  Just open the doors of ministry when the opportunity to turn the key is provided.

And remember, God knows what He’s doing.

JN 9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. [2] His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” JN 9:3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. [4] As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. [5] While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” JN 9:6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. [7] “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing. JN 9:8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” [9] Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” JN 9:10 “How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded. JN 9:11 He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit to work on: Faithfulness Take time to Pray: Ask God for wisdom to help you see how He made you and where He placed you in life so that you can be effective in the body of Christ.