Timing

Do you know what gifts you were given by God?

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people." (When it says, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love. - Ephesians 4:1-16

Discovering our gifts could be like a treasure hunt for some of us.

Look how long it took for some of the prophets to be called by God.  Abraham was old.  

And even those who may have known their gifts early on, didn't figure out how best to use them until later in life.  Look at Jesus.

If God's own self can be an example of finding the right time to bring forth the gifts one is given, why can't that  be true for us as well?

Finding our gifts could be like a treasure hunt, and learning how best to use them could take a lifetime.

We tend to think our purpose is over when we reach a certain age or milestone in our lives, like when we retire from a long career, but is it?

Maybe all that was pre-work for the real purpose that lies ahead, using the gifts given years before, matched with the wisdom gained in life.

Each grape may hold within it the essence of the wine it can become, but that gift takes time and it takes work to bring forth.

Who knows what seeds were planted in us that will bring fruit?  And who knows how long that will take?

So, perhaps we need to give our gifts a little time to reveal themselves, and in the meantime, we could be looking for the challenges God has laid before us.  They may hold the secret of our strengths.

More to come...