The centre of it all #6

I often look around me (with no small amount of frustration) and realise how ill equipped I am. I don't have the skills or confidence of so-and-so, or the time what's-his-name has, or the creativity of thingy or the compassion of whomever. It then takes only a nanosecond for these thoughts to disable me. Worse still these thoughts tend to follow hot on the heels of genuine appreciation of someone's achievement.
Why these thoughts are disabling is because they make me think I should be doing something that I am not equipped for. That is ungodly nonsense and once again it nudges Christ from the centre of our lives.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Eph 2:10

Now, we may be asked by God (perhaps not directly but through others, and it is therefore to discern when this happens) to do something we've never done before but that is not to say that we aren't equipped or prepared for it [without us realising it]. I had never done any commercial cleaning before one summer at university. My new boss watched me and thought that I wasn't up to the job on my first day's performance, but he asked me back for one more day. The next day I amazed him by demonstrating the routine and confidence which wasn't there the day before because it was all new.

God has prepared good works for each of us and because we don't all need to be doing the same thing He won't be giving us all the same thing to do. It just stands to reason. But if you read this and think "I don't seem to be called to do any good works." Then speak to a close friend and ask them what they think. You may not even realise that you are doing the very thing that you are called to do! If you realise that you are genuinely not doing anything then there is something up because you are a not a purposeless Christian. Speak to someone urgently, try to figure out [with God] what it is you should be doing. You have purpose and importance.

There is an old man in my parent's church who gets frustrated because he misses so many of the church services because he is not fit enough to attend. Indeed he seems to spend more time in hospital with his heart complaints than he does at home! Despite this he decides to write letters to students away from home. They are often hard to read, not eloquently written and feature his many hospital visits but they always conclude with a piece of encouragement which comes straight from God. Over the years I have benefited from these letters and I dare say that his 'least active' days have been his most 'productive' ones.

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thes 5:18