I wrote a few weeks ago about being a secret agent. Lately, I’ve had the opportunity to live the life of a secret agent more than in the past…it’s been fun and cool and sometimes even really beautiful to see how I can creatively come up with ways to be a blessing to people who probably have no idea I’ve being a blessing to.
I think God really wants us to be creative in the ways we use our gifts. So often, we see gifts in a certain way – “This is what a ____ does, and this is what it looks like.” But that isn’t how God sees it. I like to think of gifts as having dialects – just like a language might have a dozen different variations depending on the region it’s being spoken in, a gift has dozens of little nuances in how it can be used. Some people are called to live their gifts openly – others are called to operate in secret. Some people are called to be bold, others to be quiet.
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I’ve been learning about offense lately.
Offense, trauma, bitterness, unforgiveness, rejection, intimidation, hatred…they’re all intertwined roots that sink deep in the fertile soil of our pain. They feed on each other, growing bigger, twisting perspectives, and slowly poisoning relationships, leaving gaping wounds that lead to more of the same in a vicious cycle…it gradually spawns cynicism and deception and uncontrollably causes that individual to wound more people, making them feel more isolated… It’s sadistic. Do you like doing a job well? I do. In fact, to me, doing a job poorly isn’t much fun – I would much rather do a good job than a bad one. It’s more fulfilling to take a little pride in my work. I’m also one of those weird people who likes to make things with my hands. It’s a joy to watch something grow under my fingers. Whether it’s a manuscript for my latest book, knitting, crocheting, or sewing, I delight in seeing things grow from the raw materials into something entertaining, useful, or beautiful.
I think one of the things I love about being a creative is that it reminds me that everything takes time. The best things in life take time to develop. I’ve written about character, about humility, about tenets of the Christian faith. Nearly all of these things take time to develop. Lessons take time to learn. Worship…that word conjures up all sorts of images in most of our minds. For some of us, it strikes boredom in our hearts or possibly makes our ears crinkle up if we’ve had too many experiences with people singing off-key in church. It makes a lot of us think of what happens while people are still filtering into church before the sermon. I would guess that for the majority of us, we think of music and singing when the word ‘worship’ is mentioned.
Sometimes, when you’re defining what something is, it’s helpful to start by defining what it’s not. In the case of worship, there are a lot of things it can be that don’t actually define what it is at the core of the matter. For example, worship is not singing. It’s not dancing. It’s not lifting hands or saying worshipful words – and it’s certainly not just a precursor to the ‘important’ part of a church service (aka, the sermon – and I’d say that worship might just be the most important part of a service – keep reading, and you’ll see why). |
Sarah GraceHi! I'm Sarah Grace, and I'm so glad you stopped by the Wings of Heaven blog! You can find short posts for easy reading or longer, more in-depth musings! I hope you're blessed! Archives
February 2024
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