Читать книгу Mustard Seeds - Melissa Levi - Страница 3

Everyone has a Ministry

As every man hath received the gift, [even so] minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, [let him speak] as the oracles of God; if any man minister, [let him do it] as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10-11

I never wanted to be a Christian writer. I wanted to be like Stephen King or Michael Crichton. I wanted to wow people with my imagination. Bring you to tears. Make the hair stand up on your neck and your skin crawl. I wanted the reader to be awed by me.

When I wrote my Christian Sci-Fi thriller, it was still just for me. I thought that if I changed it to a Christian based storyline, I would finally be successful in my writing. Well it got me published, but satisfaction was fleeting and glory very short lived.

Even so, I craved writing. It was like breathing to me, and not one day passed that I did not scribble an idea on paper or build a character in my head. I knew beyond a doubt that I was meant to write. Nevertheless, my writing lacked something.

Over the years, my mother has advised me to write about my life and my experiences. Every time she said that I would think,

“Why would anyone want to read about my life my experiences? I don’t want everyone to know what a loser I am!

I did not give it another thought because I was sure that I, personally, had nothing to write about. I felt that for my writing to be effective I would have to be capable of writing plots that were so beyond anything anyone had written, read or experienced. I was afraid that if I tried to write what I believed God wanted that I would no longer enjoy writing. I wanted the writing to be for me. I wanted the credit fully.

One night, my teacher in Bible class suggested that maybe I could write a couple of devotionals for the website. He left it open for me to think about. I thought about it a lot. Back and forth, the tug of war continued for nearly two weeks, until one evening in class I heard something that shifted my perspective. The lecture was focusing on the men that had written the New Testament. This handful of men had been chosen to write the most important compilation of writings man has ever read. We were looking at the personalities of the writers. Each author, Matthew, Mark, Luke, James and Paul, each different men with diverse backgrounds, stations in life— and they brought that to their writing. God was not using these men as mere scribes but inspiring them to reveal to the world the true character of God through their hearts by how Jesus had impacted their lives and how they through faith and obedience were dedicated to reaching everyone with the Gospel of Christ. In their writing, His Love, His sacrifice, His greatness and the vastness of His Grace was being expressed by the pens of men willing to open themselves up to receive the message of God to His children.

I was so worried about losing myself that I was missing out on a blessing that I was designed to complete. God did not want to lessen me; He wanted to add to me. Now, I am more fulfilled in my writing than I have ever been. Why? Because when I surrendered to His Will in my writing, He revealed to me much more than I had ever expected. He opened my eyes to His wonders daily, He guided my focus from meaningless trivial matters of the world to the real workings of His Hands in the lives of all those around me. I have been humbled by emails, cards and letters from people that relate to the day to day struggle and victory of a life through Christ. I have been honored by being asked to pray for people, some I have never met. No amount of money or best seller list could ever compare to knowing that God in all my imperfections and failures uses me to speak to His called.

When you offer yourself for His use, you are fulfilling the plan you were specifically designed to accomplish. He has no desire to take from you but to quench you and build you in His Glory. Within that act of surrender is the beginning of a closer relationship with Jesus. He has a mission for you. A specific mission that can only be fulfilled by you, but only if you are willing.

If you are reading these words, know that you have a gift, talent or ability that was given specifically to you to fulfill the ministry designated for you.

Because everyone has a ministry.