It was a jam-packed week. God allowed me to participate in multiple conversations with women making milestone decisions. Caring for delightful individuals can feel weighty. I don’t want to get ahead of God and neither do I want to fall behind. As I pray about these conversations and seek God’s direction, God continually points me to my Pink Notebook. That is my treasure house in which I write memory verses. In about 1,000 years I may actually remember some of them (I definitely do not have a photographic memory).
From my recliner, I opened the treasure book and there it is, the portion I needed that hard week. I had handwritten: 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. (I Peter 4:10-11)
I thought this through. God is not asking me if I feel comfortable in all those conversations from the marathon week. Also, He is not shooting off fireworks to celebrate what a lovely person I am (the angels laugh about that one!). What God commands is that I use whatever gifts He has given to serve others as a “faithful steward.”
What’s a faithful steward? “Once we’re called and placed into the body of Jesus Christ, the stewardship that is required of us is not a result of our own power or abilities. The strength, inspiration and growth in the management of our lives must come from God through the Holy Spirit in us; otherwise, our labor is in vain and the growth in stewardship is self-righteous, human growth.” Notice that? “Not a result of our own power or abilities.”
Hmm….so what God actually asks of me is to meditate on His Word, pray a great deal, and be open to challenging conversations. He provides, and He promises to continue to provide. It can be scary. I know my many limitations. But God is sufficient.
What challenging/uncomfortable ministry is God calling you into? Do you have your own Pink Notebook that is prompting you through the process? Go ahead. After all, the goal is, “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”
Click to listen to an interview regarding a jump into the unknown with Heather Rice Minus