God in a Salad pt.2

Yes it’s delicious! Every week, no matter what the main course is, Derek makes his salad. You can really tell that Derek delights in making his salad and delights in the reaction he gets from his guests. I imagine him in the kitchen preparing the ingredients and thinking about adding something special, all with a huge smile on his face. This is his gift to the group and we all look forward to receiving it.

I do wonder however, what would happen if Derek missed a week. Perhaps I, or someone else from the group, would try to make Derek’s salad. We would do our best to copy it, but the group would just be reminded how much they miss the real thing.

There’s no reason to try and copy someone’s gift, there’s no joy in that. God is incredibly diverse and the gifts He gives His children are wonderfully diverse. In a small group setting, if you are paying attention, it will become apparent that everyone has gifts that are unique. However, most people don’t feel what they have is anything special. Many have been conditioned to think gifting is ‘preaching’ and ‘teaching’ and they know that they will never be able to orate like a Senior Pastor, Teacher or Evangelist.

Last week someone had a song on their heart, they sang it to the group, no music, no instruments, it was beautiful. Others have had drawings, poems, words of encouragement, dreams, visions, prophetic words, inspiring thoughts. Jesus was, and is, in all of it!

Most of us will never be a Billy Graham. True joy and peace come when we realize who we are, and that what we possess is something special. Trying to fit into someone else’s mold will frustrate us, lead us to believe we ‘just don’t have it’ and eventually convince us that we have little to offer.

I pray each of us will discover our ‘special salad’ and take great joy in preparing it and serving it to others. When we do, our ‘ministry’ becomes effortless, we bless those around us and find our faith renewed.