2 June – Intended For Greatness

Tonight I want to give a shout out to our daughter Shara Rose who is recording her third  single tomorrow. She’s spent months preparing for this moment and even though things haven’t gone completely to plan she’s kept chasing her dream with a determination that is a credit to both her character and faith. Since the first draft of her song over 18 months ago she’s had innumerable singing lessons to fine tune her vocals, hours of conversations about her career as an artist, several hospital stays, completely lost her voice through laryngitis and been in lock down with Covid19.

The truth is everyone has planted within them gifts and abilities. I believe it is God who plants these seeds of greatness in our hearts, but for those seeds to grow to their full potential they must be watered and cared for to see them become fruitful.

Jesus cautions us in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 to ensure we invest our talents wisely and to not sit around doing little or nothing with all we have been given. Instead we are encouraged to honour what God has given us as we take our gifts and make them skills.

However without a conscious effort we can very easily allow other things to crowd out our dreams and the gifts we have been given due to the urgent noise of everyday life.

Three ways to make the most of our gifts and to be the greatness God intended us to be is to:

1. Ask, “How would God have me spend my day?” Then make a decision with God’s help to act on those directives. Prioritise God and what He says about your life first and schedule in your calendar those things that determine who you want to become.

2. Don’t mistake the urgent for the important. Everyday concerns may sound and look important but they’re usually not. Seek God for wisdom to know the difference.

3. Don’t compare yourself with others. When we fall into the comparison trap we tend to minimise and disregard the gifts and talents God has given us, doing little to grow our potential. We can start to consider it pointless to even begin because we are looking at others rather than at Jesus and what and who He says we are. Instead of comparing yourself focus on honouring what you have within you already and trust God to bring the increase.

God intended you for greatness! Make a decision to cultivate the gifts and talents He has planted in you. 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

“Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power.” (2 Peter 1:3 The Passion translation)

Prayer: Jesus I want to stay focused on building and honouring the gifts that you have deposited inside of me. Please help me to use my day doing those things that are really important and cause me to become all that you have created me to be. In Jesus name Amen.