November 6

“God does not tell us we are the workmen, who are to use and manage the instruments, but that we are the instruments to be used and managed by the Divine Master Workman who made us, and who alone, therefore, understands for what work we are best fitted.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 10/15

I’ve been in churches that have put an emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit to the point of giving people tests to help them discover which gifts they have.  While this may be helpful in the secular world, I believe it sends the wrong message to Christians.  It puts us in the position of the workman who uses his talents to serve God when, as Hannah points out, we are the gifts--the instruments.  I’ve never thought of myself as a gift, but that is what I am if I am a pliable instrument in God’s Hand.  As an instrument I am freed from the outcome and instead can enjoy the process.  I believe that if we could get this one thing straight we wouldn’t suffer regrets in our old age.  How often do we look back on our lives and measure its success by results.  Very few of us probably ever live out our dreams to their fullest.  If, however, we lived our lives enjoying each day’s process without regard to it’s outcome, we could look back and feel a satisfaction beyond our dreams.  Dreams are great, but they are overrated.  Real life happens without any planning. Real life is in the details of each day--from sunrise to sunset.  Those are the moments we should be able to look back on and see God’s Hand in our lives.

“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’”  Matthew 25:21