I heard a prophet I know say this to a man a few weeks ago, "You are wasting your gift". This was to a man with obvious ability to bring the word of God. A man with leadership quality. But his gift was being wasted on drugs, alcohol and sexual addictions. His giftedness was wasted. That is easy to see. We can all get behind this idea that wasting our gift on dissipation is a crime. There is one just as wasteful and one many Christians willingly participate in not knowing that it is just as destructive. As he spoke of the Wasted Gift I was suddenly rattled by the Spirit of God.
I have known great men of God, Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Teachers and Pastors who's gifts are trampled underfoot by a religious system made up of giftless leaders.
The Bible says that a man's gift makes room for him. That is not what the text means, it has to do with bringing a gift to a king or other greatness to have audience with him. You can read it yourself. Proverbs 18:16. It is a verse used by giftless leadership to keep at bay those who carry the anointing of God and are purposed by Him to exercise that gift which has been vested in them. It's a board nailed over the place of escape they use in the hope of keeping you in the building.
Sowing your gift in good ground is the will of God for your life. In the parable of the sower the sower seems to be indiscriminate in his sowing on paths, rocks and weeds. While the parable was about soils, it never speaks of the sower. He was random. God is NOT.
I have been a farmer. Picking where to plant your precious seed (gift) is a major task. Seedbed preparation is a big deal. Getting the weeds out by fallow practices. Making certain the seedbed is fertile. God expects no less than that from us.
He is saying, "Don't waste your gift. I gave it to you to plant in fertile places. Places prepared for you. Places that are ready for your gift."
There is a Holy Discontent that comes on those called of the Spirit of God when the awareness that the ground into which they thought had potential for their gift to be sown is rocky, hard and weedy. Think abstractly is if you had been one of the seed sown by the sower filled with the word of God and you ended up in the crack of a rocky place. Even if the rain fell, you had no hope of prospering. Any root you might try to put down would result in death as soon as the rain stopped. You would have wasted your gift. The sower made a mistake. God doesn't. He gives us choice of soils.
It is less random than we think. God chooses carefully those who he calls. He chooses those able to equip others. Then as the saints are equipped, fruit comes. But if the place that gift finds itself is not prepared or too filled with hardness, rocks and weeks to be a place of fruitfulness, then unlike the seed sown, the word of God as a seed hidden in the hearts of those called to equip have the capacity to claw their way to better soils.
That is a challenge, but the first realization is the fact that your gift is being wasted on bad soils, and then, do something about it.
1 comment:
A painfully true reality. There have been churches I wanted to stay and yet God said go. I have set in appointments with leaders as the burden of the Lord hits me prophecy ect. They did not disceren it. I was overwhelmingly aware that God himself was listening at times I would not want to give account for their words or how it affected the plan of God both for them and their church.. I was persecuted and yet educated there is a healthy fear of the Lord and it's easy to go about business in His name without His direction I must judge myself soberly al most daily. Many said they wanted revival (it had to be their way) they where in a fight and yet by not discerning the body they made it their own. Talented gifted ministers falling into a trap bearing rule by their own means.They wabt breakthrough and the shabby appearance of the thing (me) did not meet their standards. I about died the first time the Lord had me confront an angel of satan.The warfare is real the training is hard. Obedience and timing must be 100% Many are swinging at what they cannot see and have not been shown. Your post is outstanding and encouraging .one of the the downside to the prophets office is sometimes you may be there a season others for a purpose or to quench the enemy and other times they may accept direction for a while until they not only become offended at you but the Word the Lord has spoken thru you. The patteren is clear in the old testament.quote I sent you my prophets night and day but you would not listen to them or me. This now applies to apostles teachers are very unappreciated and evangelists made merchandise of along with all the rest. It will be a fearful time when God says I have had enough I am now going to bring both leaders and those who have made themselves leaders and drawn people unto themselves even merchandising them to account a fearful time indeed for many in the U.S.
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