A co-worker recently gave me a potted peace lily as a gift, apparently unaware that I am the angel of death for green things. I displayed it prominently on a table visible to passers-by, and vowed to keep this one alive. Despite my best efforts, I came in one Monday morning just a week later and found the poor thing wilted and splayed out over the table. The center stalk with a bud just ready to open was not only bent, but kinked, with every single leaf hanging in a limp ring around that bent stalk, looking more like cooked greens than a living thing. Longing for a miracle, but preparing for the worst, I doused the poor thing with water and prayed, hoping the person who gave me the plant hadn’t already seen it, and been insulted that I didn’t care enough for her gift to tend to it properly…which got me thinking about gifts.
As much as I would love for God to give me purely self-serving gifts–ornamental or comfortable ones, like jewelry or fuzzy slippers, the gifts that God gives are curiously more like housewarming gifts–practical gifts, gifts that must be used or tended to. He does hint that one day He’ll bestow jewelry (or at least crowns) on his beloved; but in this life, His gifts are to be used for the benefit of others (see 1 Cor. 12:7) Now, I’m one of those who has taken awhile to discover what gifts God has given me, and then used false humility as an excuse for not using them (Me? Have talent? Discernment? Teach others? Pshaw…) Refusing to acknowledge or use the gifts God has given me for the good of his people because I don’t feel confident or strong is not humble. It is sinful. When we allow the gifts God has given us to atrophy, a part of us atrophies along with hem, because they are woven into our personalities-tiny bits of God’s image written into our DNA.
In 1 Timothy 4:14, Paul warns young Timothy not to neglect the gift that was given him. The context seems to indicate that this gift was some sort of commission, a duty assigned specifically to Timothy by God through prophetic intercession. This is why Timothy was at this certain place at this certain time- to fulfill God’s will in a way he was specifically gifted to do. Most of us aren’t so blessed as to have our callings clearly articulated by prophets. We have to look for them. The most fulfilled, most grounded people I know are those who have identified their gifts and are busy using them in a way only they could. I’ve seen them work from a seemingly endless reserve of energy because the passion for whatever it is they are doing and the satisfaction of seeing fruit of their labor spurs them on. Could the fact that I’ve been feeling as limp and listless as my peace lily have anything to do with the fact that I may be spending so much of my energy on the wrong things? Could that vague sense of restlessness and discontent be a gift of God that is crying out for water and sunshine? This is the journey I’m on: to figure out what God has put in me that is useful for building others up and bringing glory to Him, and finding ways, no matter how small, to start putting it in to practice.
My little peace lily made a brave comeback. Within twenty four hours of proper hydration and a bit of sunlight, the only sign of its near death experience is a blackened edge along its very first bloom that resembles a bruise. Rather than cut it off to destroy the evidence, I left it there as a reminder, not only to water the thing, but also to honor the Giver by honoring the gift.
For Reflection:
A good place to start reading is Romans 12:4-8 or 1 Corinthians 12:7-30.
- What puts fuel in your tank? When you had free time as a child, what did you do?
- What ways of helping others have you found enjoyable?
- What breaks your heart? What is your Holy Discontent? As you look around the community, church or world, what a) concerns you the most and b) do you think you can do something about?
- What strengths do others see in you? (Really, ask those who know you what they see in you. You may be surprised that several of them see the same thing. That’s a really big clue)
