"What’s the will of God for my life?"  That’s the #1 question that we all want to know.  Where does God want me to go?  When does He want me to go?  And what does He want me to do when I get there?  WHAT DOES GOD WANT FROM ME?

Well, I believe that the answer to this question isn’t supposed to be as hard as we often make it.  Sometimes the answer is right in front of us and we just don’t see it.  Of course, no one can fully know the mind and will of God – see Romans 11:33 – but we aren’t supposed to be completely in the dark either.  This isn’t “hide & seek” – God wants to reveal His plan for your life even more than you want to discover it.

So what’s the trick then?  How do I discover it?

Let me give you an example.  Suppose I tell my two children that Saturday is going to be a “house chore” day.  The whole day will be dedicated to getting chores down around the house.  Each one will have a specific job and that will be their responsibility to get done for the day.  The overall goal is to get the house clean, but each one will only be responsible for a piece of that goal.

Saturday morning comes around.  The kids roll out of bed and find a note from me.  To my daughter, the note says “Come to the kitchen as soon as you are ready to start working.”  She gets dressed and goes down to the kitchen.  She doesn’t find me there, but she does find a broom, a dustpan and a mop with her name on it.  Hmmmmm…. I wonder what she is supposed to do???

My son gets a similar note in his room but it says “Come to the front yard as soon as you are ready to start working.”  He gets dressed and comes outside.  Again, I am not there to meet him but he finds a lawn mower, a weed-wacker and a rake with his name on it.  Hmmmmmm again…. I wonder what the plan for his day might be???

You see, my theory is this.  If you want to figure out what God wants from you in life, just look at the gifts and talents He has given you.  Because just as with my kids on their chore day, the talents and gifts God has given you reveal His plan for your life.  You’ll know what He wants when you see what He has given you.

Yesterday I wrote about how God created us all differently and no one is better/worse than another.  He created us with differences in our personalities and our talents and our gifts, because He wants to accomplish different components of His plan through each one of us.  It wouldn’t be smart for me to give both of my kids the same tools, unless I wanted them to do the same job.  But the mere fact that I give them different tools shows that I have different jobs for them to do.

What is your job?  What gifts did God give you?  Are you good with kids?  Do you enjoy singing/music?  Are you good at numbers or planning or organizing or teaching?  It doesn’t matter what gift you have; it only matters what you do with that gift.

“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  1 Corinthians 10:31

There are two types of people out there filling our churches all over the world.  There are consumers and there are contributors.  Consumers come to take only; contributors come to give.  Which one are you?  Are you a spiritual consumer or a spiritual contributor?

At STSA, we believe strongly that God is calling us to be contributors and not just consumers.  That’s why our 8th core value is this:

#8: FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP OF TALENTS & GIFTS.  We believe that each one of us is entrusted by God with specific talents and gifts. It is our duty to use those gifts to further Christ’s mission on earth.

We aren’t made to just go to church, hear a sermon, sing a song and go home.  God created you uniquely – with a unique set of talents and gifts that no one else in the history of the world has ever had before – and He did so because He has a mission for you to do with them.  He isn’t giving you the tools to look at them and admire them.  He is giving you the tools to use them!

Which one are you: a consumer or a contributor?  In my house, we teach our kids from a young age that they are here to contribute, not just consume.  We let them eat whatever food they want and use whatever water and electricity they want (consuming), but we also require that they do some chores around the house (contributing).

Which one are you going to be? A consumer or a contributor?

For discussion: what gifts have you been given and how could you do a better job of consecrating those gifts to be used for Christ’s mission on earth?