Note: I'd originally hand-written the following post in a notebook on July 19, 2011. I never got around to typing it here, nor have I written much since this time, because of the crazy year I had. However, I'm hoping that all soon changes. :-)
Whenever life gets extra busy, certain things take a backseat or total absence in my life. My social life is cut back, and my loves—like writing—are often totally dropped for awhile. Or sometimes when I’ve written a lot, because I finished a big writing project, I feel like a break will help me. Maybe a short break is helpful, but I can say right now I feel like I’m in torment. I’ve been yearning to write badly lately.
As I’ve meditated a few days ago about how I missed writing and how I now have notes on a few different subjects (as I’ve never stopped taking notes as I’m inspired), I realized I might not be the only one hurting from my lack of writing. Others are served by my passion and gift of writing, just as I am served in other ways by others and their passions and gifts that I do not possess.
I thought about my friend Meg’s passion and gift of knitting and pattern-writing. Her work is incredible, and she loves to knit things for others. She also blogs about her creations. I thought of my friend Chel’s fun classroom organizational skills and her passions for organizing fun projects and her photography. Her homeschooling blog is loved and appreciated by many for the inspirational ideas and lovely pictures. I thought about my friend Ambra’s gift with people—highly social and quick to make friends—and how she loves to serve them with love, accepting them as they are; and sharing what she’s learned about God, friends, and family in her inspirational blog posts.
I also thought of my friend Laura and the mental anguish she’s experiencing, because she has not been getting many easy opportunities to serve others with her singing.
A person will be naturally inclined to want to use his or her gifts to serve others, and he or she will naturally enjoy doing so. It is meant to be that way.
We all can’t focus hard on doing or being it all. We were created as MANY to be ONE by serving each other with our beloved gifts and strengths—our passions.
If you are being hindered from using your gift(s), an effort should be made—and prayer lifted up—to unhinder yourself. It’s not only you missing out, but it’s also others who are served by your gift(s). On the other hand, if nothing is hindering you from using your God-given talents or your passionate skills but yourself, then make a vow today to stop doing nothing! Not only are you lacking inner fulfillment and joy, you are withholding that good from others.
Whether we are failing to use our spiritual gifts or physical gifts or both, we are expected to use our gifts to serve the family of God and the family of man (as well as the families of animals and plants...all that is around us needs to be served by those called to do so in various ways).
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant…For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ…For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body (1 Cor. 12:1, 12, 14-20).
