By Melissa Sharp
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Ephesians 3:20
With less than four miles to go before completing a Labor Day Marathon, I glanced at a text that came up on my smart watch that read “Go Team Sharp — it’s not a belt buckle, it’s not a medal, it’s not a trophy… it’s a foo-foo coffee from Midway!!!” I smiled, knowing this dear friend of mine would be picking up iced java for my husband and me for the end of the race. I thought to myself, “Oh Maggie, you really know how to make a girl happy.” This surprise made finishing the 26.2 mile run all the sweeter as I hadn’t expected to receive anything for my efforts. I was simply completing this race for God’s glory. But I’m not gonna lie, knowing that my favorite cold beverage was at the finish line made me pick up the pace a bit.
God is so good to give us friends who encourage us to use our talents for His glory!
God has given us all different talents to be used for His glory. He will strengthen us to utilize those gifts to their fullest when we say, “Lord, here I am. Use me.” Especially when we acknowledge Him as the Giver of all good things. This is the very reason Paul said that we can, “do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” And it’s when His awesome power is displayed through our accomplishments that we can say, “All glory to God!”
You may be thinking, “Wow. I really don’t think I have a gift.” Let me remind you that God has given every believer gifts. The most precious gift we can share is our own testimony of salvation. But the Bible makes it clear that we EACH have received gifts!
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
1 Peter 4:10-11
We are not all called to do what the world culture would characterize as unusual and uncommon things to bring others to Him, but we ALL are called to serve Him by serving others, “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” In fact, serving others is of so much importance to the Lord that Jesus told the disciples that the one who serves is greater than the one who sits at the table:
“But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”
Luke 22:26-27
Jesus’ view is in direct opposition to the world’s view of the greatest person being the one who is served by many. Which is the very reason so many people long for fortune and fame, then like King Solomon, realize at the end, that their life spent chasing things lesser than God and His will, is a life lived in vain:
“Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor; and this was my reward from all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
So don’t be afraid to step out in faith to use your gifts and your talents in mighty ways my friend, remembering that we have all been given unique abilities within the body of Christ to serve the whole body of Christ. When we serve in His strength (which is limitless) rather than our own strength (which is very limited), He, Himself, will fully equip us to fulfill the calling He has placed on our lives. When your purpose is to bring God glory and to lead the lost to Him, you’ll be absolutely amazed and astonished at the things you’ll be able to do “by the power that works in” you.
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us all different gifts and talents to be used for Your glory. Help us all to fully understand what our God-given talents are, Lord, and then to put in the work to hone those talents so that we can use them for Your glory. Give us a heart to serve others with all that we have Father, so that when our lives near their end, we can smile knowing that we didn’t waste any of the precious time or talent entrusted to us. It’s in your precious name we pray, Jesus. Amen.
Melissa Sharp is an ultra runner and running coach who has completed more than 100 marathons and ultra marathons. Melissa has learned how to keep running the race of life for the glory of Christ even though she endured decades of domestic abuse. Melissa is a survivor. Through her daily blog thejoyfilledrunner she inspires others to live in the strength of Christ.
