Stewardship

For every man or woman of God who was ever called and used by God, there was something the Lord assigned to them. Adam had the Garden of Eden, Joseph had Egypt, Moses had the Israelites, and it goes on. God does not endow us with His gifts for us to use it in silos. Every good and perfect gift from the Father is for edifying others; and so I ask you this, what or who are you stewarding?

10 Just as each one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor]. 11 Whoever speaks [to the congregation], is to do so as one who speaks the oracles (utterances, the very words) of God. Whoever serves [the congregation] is to do so as one who serves by the strength which God [abundantly] supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified [honored and magnified] through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (AMP)

It’s easy to look at your life and assume that you haven’t been called as a leader or minister and so there is nothing assigned to you. No matter the level of your relationship with the Father, know that everything He has going for you right now, it’s all achieving a greater purpose and so we should be intentional about stewarding our gifts, talents, skills and life itself.

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
Ephesians 1:11-12 (MSG)

When Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the talents, He stressed on the fact that the Master was angry with the servant with one talent because he refused to do something with the one talent he had been given.

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:24-30 (NLT)

I bet the servant thought to himself like we also do sometimes; that he has only one talent and there is nothing he can do with his one talent. He looked at his meagre skills and his environment and just decided that there was no worth in pushing himself to achieve something with what he has. He may have been caught in the trap of comparison, where we compare ourselves with the people around us and think that we are lacking in one way or the other and so we settle for less.

There is still another trap, and that is one that might have caught this servant as well. The trap of value; when we don’t place any value in what we have been given, and don’t see the worth in our gifts and talents, we downplay everything connected to our destiny. This could be a job, a business idea, a relationship, environment and the list goes on. We fail to see that whatever my seem insignificant now, will have to be cultivated and then harvested to be all that it was designed to be. You ask an orange seed about their journey to fruition and you will be amazed about what the seed has to go through to become an orange tree. If the seed stopped at the start of cultivation and said, ‘there is no worth in me, because I am just a little seed’ , what will orange lovers do? In the same vein, there is so much value in the little you have and so you should steward it well.

I know I have been caught a number of times in this trap, but thanks be to God who challenges. He has over and over again, pushed me beyond myself and called to me the higher version of me in different. For a long time, I have been terrified of doing any kind of run. I just couldn’t bring myself to start even a small field run, because every time I did a short run chasing after kids or just for the fun of it, I quickly find myself out of breath and gasping for air. But then God brought me Laura, my Challenger, and she has helped me pushed myself and this year I am already doing a 5k run to the amazement of myself and my family.

This is just one of the ways God has used to challenge me. Your story may be different and so if I ask you again, ‘what are you stewarding’, will you look at your life and situation and think there is nothing entrusted to you? As long as there is breath in you, there is something God wants you to be busy about. I remember Jesus once said to His disciples that, ‘as long as it is day, He must be about His Father’s business.’ Are you also being about your Father’s business, as the days draw near? Just spend some time with God this week and let Him show you what your assignment is; it might be closer to you than you think.

4 We must work the works of Him Who sent Me and be busy with His business while it is daylight; night is coming on, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world’s Light.
John 9:4-5 (AMPC)

In your family, with your siblings, with your partner and children, in your job and businesses, in your community and your church, wherever you are, there is something God wants you to be doing for others to bring Him glory. There is a kingdom mindset God wants you to have. It has nothing to do with being an ordained minister or elder of a church but it’s about being an ambassador for Christ wherever you are. You may not even have to preach about God to anyone, but your lifestyle alone may be enough to draw people to the God in you.

Can we challenge ourselves in this double year of 2020, to be intentional about the calling of God on our lives? You have been called with a higher calling, right from when God grafted you in your mother’s womb. He has specifically and intentionally placed you in your environment to cause a shift and a change in that environment. The change you may have been called to may not be significant to you, but know and always remember that, if God placed you there, He wants you to work a good work.

For He delivered us and saved us and called us with a holy calling [a calling that leads to a consecrated life—a life set apart—a life of purpose], not because of our works [or because of any personal merit—we could do nothing to earn this], but because of His own purpose and grace [His amazing, undeserved favor] which was granted to us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].
2 Timothy 1:9 (AMP)

Change the conversations around you, change the atmosphere around you. Flip the switch, where there used to chaos and pessimism, be the light and positivity. The world is too broken, for us to add to it too, we should be the chain breakers. But it all starts with our intentionality to steward our assignment well to bring glory to God. Paul says it in Colossians 3, to do everything as unto the Lord.

17 Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 23 Whatever you do [whatever your task may be], work from the soul [that is, put in your very best effort], as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [greatest] reward. It is the Lord Christ whom you [actually] serve.
Colossians 3:17, 23-24 (AMP)

As children of God, we are just vessels and channels for His resources to other people. We are not created to hold on to stuff, but we are created to channel it to the recipients assigned to us and doing that allows God to pour more into us to be a blessing. This is what being blessed is all about. Be a great steward for God, and see Him transform your seed into a full fruitful tree.

May you be filled with the Fullness of God and the Power of His Love!