Day 23 of Her New Beginning: 31 Days of Healing, Identity, Renewal and Purpose
Scripture: 1 Peter 4:10 KJV
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
Sometimes we spend so much time asking God to give us something new that we fail to recognise what He has already placed within us. We pray for purpose, ask for direction and wonder what we are supposed to do with our lives, while some of the answers may already be appearing in the gifts, burdens, abilities and grace we carry.
First Peter 4:10 begins with an assumption: “As every man hath received the gift.” Peter does not speak as though only a special group of impressive people have something to offer. He speaks of receiving and then immediately speaks of stewardship. Something has been entrusted, and what has been entrusted is meant to serve.
This raises an important question: What have you received?
Perhaps you have never stood behind a microphone, but people consistently come to you because you know how to listen without making them feel judged. Perhaps you can walk into disorder and somehow see structure. Maybe you teach, write, design, lead, organise, encourage, create, manage, nurture, solve problems or recognise possibilities other people overlook. Perhaps there is spiritual grace upon your life to pray, exhort, discern, teach, give, lead or strengthen others.
The tragedy is that we can become so familiar with what comes naturally to us that we assume it has little value.
What Comes Naturally to You May Not Be Ordinary
Have you ever watched somebody struggle with something that seems incredibly simple to you and thought, But how can this be difficult?
That moment can be revealing.
We often undervalue our strengths because we experience them from the inside. If something comes naturally, we assume everybody can do it. Then life introduces us to enough people to discover that, no, everybody absolutely cannot.
The woman who naturally creates order may not realise how unusual that ability is until she encounters somebody whose handbag contains receipts from 2018, three pens that do not work and a mysterious key nobody has identified for several years.
We are different.
Romans 12:6 says, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.” Grace does not look identical in every person. One woman can communicate an idea clearly. Another sees details everyone else misses. Another has unusual compassion. Another can build systems. Another carries leadership. Another creates beauty. Another has the ability to make people feel seen.
Difference is not deficiency.
You do not need to carry everything in order to carry something valuable.
Sometimes discovering what God placed within you begins by paying attention. What do people repeatedly come to you for? What problems do you naturally notice? What kind of responsibility seems to awaken something inside you? What have you done effectively even when nobody formally trained you to do it?
These questions do not automatically reveal your entire purpose, but they can reveal clues.
Spiritual Gifts Are Not Decorations
There is also a dimension we must not neglect: the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
First Corinthians 12:7 says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” The gifts of the Spirit are not spiritual jewellery given to make someone look impressive. They are manifestations of the Spirit intended to bring benefit.
This is important because purpose is not merely discovering your natural talents. The Holy Spirit also equips God’s people supernaturally for service.
Paul tells believers in 1 Corinthians 14:1 to “desire spiritual gifts.” There should be room in our walk with God for holy desire, spiritual growth and discovering how the Spirit wants to work through us.
Yet spiritual gifts must always remain connected to love and character. First Corinthians 13 sits between chapters 12 and 14 for a reason. A woman can become excited about what she carries and forget why she carries it.
Gifts are meant to serve.
If what God has placed in me only makes me feel important, I have misunderstood stewardship. Grace is given so that something of Christ can reach somebody else through my life.
Your Story May Have Developed Something in You
Not everything you carry was discovered in a classroom. Some things were developed through life.
A woman who has walked through grief may develop unusual sensitivity toward someone experiencing loss. A woman who rebuilt after financial difficulty may carry practical wisdom another family desperately needs. A woman who has experienced rejection and found healing in Christ may know how to recognise the woman smiling in the room while quietly wondering whether she belongs there.
This does not mean God caused every painful thing simply to teach us something. Some things were never good, and we do not need to rename them in order to acknowledge God’s ability to redeem them.
But God refuses to waste surrendered pain.
Second Corinthians 1:4 speaks of God comforting us in our tribulation so that we “may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Sometimes what you survived gives you language for another woman’s survival.
You know what not to say because somebody once said it to you.
You know how important it is to listen because you remember what it felt like when nobody listened.
You know how powerful encouragement can be because you remember the sentence someone spoke when you were almost ready to quit.
Your experience is not your identity, but God can allow wisdom gained from it to become part of what you carry.
Some Gifts Are Discovered While Being Used
One mistake we can make is waiting until we understand everything about our gift before we begin using it.
David did not discover every dimension of his future while sitting somewhere analysing his potential. He served. He worshipped. He cared for sheep. He fought a lion and a bear. When Goliath appeared, David already had a history of using what was in his hands.
Sometimes clarity comes through movement.
You may discover that you can teach by accepting an opportunity to teach a small group. You may discover that you can write by actually writing. You may recognise leadership grace when responsibility is placed in your hands. You may discover a burden for prayer because you begin praying consistently for people and realise that the burden does not leave.
There are things prayer reveals, but there are also things obedience reveals.
This is why small opportunities should not be despised. We sometimes want God to show us what we would do before thousands while ignoring what He has placed before us to do for five people.
David’s field came before the palace.
Do not become so fascinated by where a gift might take you that you refuse to use it where you are.
Develop What God Gave You
Having a gift does not mean the gift requires no development.
Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, “stir up the gift of God, which is in thee.” Something divine had been given, but Timothy still carried responsibility concerning it.
This is where stewardship becomes practical.
If you can teach, study.
If you can write, keep improving your writing.
If you lead, learn leadership.
If you sing, develop your voice.
If you believe God has given you spiritual gifts, remain grounded in Scripture, grow in love and learn to exercise them with humility and wisdom.
Anointing is not an excuse for carelessness.
Sometimes we pray for a larger platform when what we really need is greater preparation. God may have genuinely placed something powerful within you, but stewardship asks whether you are developing the capacity to carry it well.
Do not be embarrassed to learn.
Being gifted does not mean you already know everything.
Stop Burying What You Carry
Comparison has buried many gifts.
You see another woman who is more experienced, polished or established and suddenly what you carry feels insignificant. But perhaps she has simply spent more years developing what you are only beginning to recognise.
Learn from her without disappearing beside her.
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 reminds us that the issue is not whether everybody received the same amount. The question is what each person did with what had been entrusted.
You are not accountable for another woman’s gift.
You are accountable for yours.
What if the thing you keep dismissing is something another person needs? What if the wisdom you consider ordinary is an answer to someone’s prayer? What if the gift you are afraid to develop is connected to people you have not met yet?
Do not wait until you feel extraordinary.
Recognise what is in your hands, place it before God and begin stewarding it.
You do not need to manufacture another woman’s grace. You need to discover, develop and faithfully release the grace God has already placed within you.
Prayer
Father, open my eyes to recognise what You have placed within me. Show me the gifts, abilities, burdens, experiences and spiritual graces You want me to steward. Deliver me from comparison and from dismissing what You have given simply because it feels familiar to me. Give me humility to learn, discipline to develop and courage to begin using what is in my hands. May every gift in my life serve Your purposes and become a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today’s Declaration
God has placed grace within me, and I will not bury what He has entrusted to my life. I will recognise my gifts, develop them with discipline and use them with humility. I refuse to compare my beginning with another woman’s maturity. What God placed within me has purpose. My natural abilities, spiritual gifts, experiences and opportunities will be surrendered to Him and used to serve others. I will be a faithful steward of the manifold grace of God. I am a Wonder Model Woman.
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