Have you ever thought about what your spiritual gift (SG) is? Do you have any idea what your calling is within the body of God? It is possible that you haven't even thought about it before now. I am reading a book about the SG of prophecy, and this has gotten my mind thinking about all the SG's that God has given us. I happen to be a fortunate one who is pretty sure of what my spiritual gifts are, but I know there are many who are still seeking, and still more who have not even taken the time to consider what they can contribute to the kingdom of God. If you are unsure about what your spiritual gift(s) are, there are quizzes you can find online that will give you a general idea of where your gifts lie.
Once you find out what your gift is it is important to seek opportunities to walk in them. It is also important that you walk in your own gift and not try to be like someone else. When you try to walk in someone else's gift things start getting out of order and you are not doing a service to the kingdom of God. A good way to get an idea of what your gift is, is to look at the things that come to you naturally. Do you love to help the needy? Do you get excited when you tell someone about what Jesus has done for you? Do you daydream about traveling the world and helping people in other countries? These are all clues as to what could be your spiritual gift.
I believe one of my spiritual gifts is the gift of discernment. Now, all Christians should have some level of discernment. In other words, if you are a Christian you should have a basic innate concept of those things that are right and wrong. This means, if you go in a church that is telling you you do not have to treat your neighbor with kindness, the spirit inside you should send off a red flag that something is wrong with the message and you should hightail it out of there. Those who have a spirit of discernment are much more sensitive to those things that are right and wrong. Even very early in my Christian walk I can remember going to different churches and "feeling" upon entering that something was wrong in the church. As my walk with Christ developed I could sometimes tell what was wrong with a person just by talking to them for a minute or two. When I say I could tell what was wrong with someone, I mean that I could sense or feel what was troubling them. For instance, I might be talking to someone and start feeling a heavy sadness, or sometimes I would hear a nagging voice inside of me telling me what was troubling the person.
Lately I have been calling myself a "sponge person". I started thinking of this term because of what had been going on with my husband. I started asking God why it was that I had a hard time being happy if he wasn't happy. Upon entering my home and just looking at my husband I can tell what kind of mood he is in. A lot of this just has to do with non verbal cues, such as body language, etc., that are certainly not spiritual in nature, but I can also feel the atmosphere when I come in. Sometimes I can feel that he is discouraged, worried, angry, or any other emotion. I have found that whatever mood he is in I automatically feel it to my core. This is not a good way to be. I know that I need to come to a place where I can be happy in spite of...but this is difficult because with a spirit of discernment you really "feel" what others are feeling and their emotions can become your own.
I think that the spirit of discernment leaves you wide open for negativity if you are not "prayed up". I can think of two distinct times when I was not prayed up and had negative consequences because of it. Before I divulge I want to stress that I am just expressing my opinion of what happened. If you are out there and can prove or disprove my theory, you are more than welcome to comment because I, too, would like to know more about this. Anyhow, the first time I was impacted by the spirit of anther was about two years ago. I do talks at local high schools about mental health issues, and tell my story about depression. Often, when I am done talking I will have some young female who wants to talk to me in private. I hear all types of sad stories, and try to help these young women as much as possible. Before even talking to them I am saying a silent prayer that God will help me to help them.
After one talk, my fellow coworker dropped a bomb on me. She told me there was a young lady who was not part of the group we presented to, who was dealing with a severe depression and wanted to talk to me. She was at the counselors office with her mother and they were hoping I could give her a word of encouragement. Normally, this is no problem, and I am more than happy to help. On this particular day, I'm not sure why, I was slightly reluctant to talk with this young woman and I don't think I even said my silent prayer before I went in to talk to her and her mother. I remember not feeling very confident about what to say to her, and really struggling to find the right words to encourage her. I left feeling that I had not made an impact or breakthrough with her, which was unusual.
It could not have been more than two days later that I began to feel very down and sad. I want to note that I have suffered from depression in the past, but during this time I had not had any severe depressive episodes in a few years. Within a few days I became very down, and depressed. Long story short, I finally came out of the depression, but the timing of the depression was quite odd, because prior to meeting with this girl I was just fine.
A more recent example is still effecting me now. My sister and her husband have been together for many years, and have had many, many ups and downs. Their relationship has always been erratic and full of drama, arguing, and things of that nature. I rarely interact with her partly because of this reason, because I really do not want to hear about the latest issue affecting their relationship. One day, out the blue, she stopped past my house, and to make a long story short we talked about her marriage, I tried to encourage her and we prayed together (she is not saved, but has an understanding of Jesus). This is the precise day that I remember my relationship with my husband really changing. I remember him being really angry when I came home, and me thinking how out of character he was acting. Since that day, my husband and I have been having many issues in our own marriage. We rarely would argue before, and that day marked a time when we just began to have these really crazy, wild arguments, which was so out of character for both of us.
Now unbelievers, and even some Believers out there could chalk all of this up to coincidence, but for those who are aware that spiritual warfare is real will receive confirmation that spiritual attacks are no laughing matter. The purpose of telling these stories though is not to talk about spiritual warfare, though we can learn a lesson about that as well, but rather to show illustrate why it is important for a person with a gift of spiritual discernment has to stay prayed up, and armored up with God's Word. I would love to hear how others feel about spiritual warfare, and spiritual gifts. Do leave comments and let me know what you think. God Bless, and Merry Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment