So in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. (Romans 12:5-6, NIV)
Watching The Open Championship on television last month, I was amazed to see just what it took to win. On a course so wild and unpredictable, the best scores did not go to those who could only hit it long and straight but rather to those who could best imagine how to deal with the obstacles in front of them. It was truly a course where your greatest gift as a golfer was the ability to think outside the box.
It strikes me that God calls us to a similar task. He calls us to a particular time and place and gives us the gifts we need to embrace the challenge in front of us. If we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we can find hope in the fact that God’s gifting in our life uniquely prepares us to meet the challenge we are facing. Unlike the unredeemed rest of the world, we are prepared by God to fulfill his calling on our life. We do not face the challenge of the future alone. It might be hard but never impossible. It might require help, but God also has that covered.
Our calling and our gifts are individual. One believer will do great in a situation that might bring another to his knees. Same obstacle, but different calling and gifts to deal with it.
God has given us a life that will challenge every ounce of our faith.
It is a wonderful truth about the body of Christ that no one has to do everything on their own. When an obstacle in front of us seems to be impossible to overcome, there is another person in the body of Christ who has just the right gifts to help us through it. Sometimes we will be that person for someone else, and sometimes we will be the one who requires the assistance of another believer. We all belong to one another as we face the wild and unpredictable road in front of us.
It is so like our loving and creative Father to give us this wonderful experience of life here on earth. If it were easy and predictable, we would not be required to stretch our creativity or grow in our faith. We would not have to learn what our calling and gifts are because we wouldn’t have to use them.
Instead, God has given us a life that will challenge every ounce of our faith. It will require the interaction of other believers; it will culminate in an eternity that will continue to challenge us in ways we don’t yet understand, yet we will be fortified with skills that have been honed by the experiences we have had in this earthly life.
Give me wild and unpredictable and let me watch as God never leaves me and always makes a way! There is no better way to live.
—
Linda Ballard
August 5, 2021
Copyright 2021 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
Photo by Joshua Welch from Pexels