made for more

Last week I had a major revelation...  It all started with interactions with 7 different ladies all week long and it was like with each interaction God was asking me to peel off the labels that I had affixed to myself.  Here are some examples:

you aren't smart enough to do that

you're becoming more selfish as you learn more about fibro

you aren't as loved as you used to be

that church doesn't want you on staff because you have medical problems

ministry was never for you

Those are just some of the labels.  And like I said, I affixed those labels to myself.  No one ever verbalized those things.  I know I am a creative person and I would like to think I didn't make it all up - but sadly, I believe I did.  Mostly by comparing myself to others, I just decided these things about myself.

So back to the label peeling process.

After all the labels were off I was texting with a very good friend of mine.  We will call her Dee.  I told her I felt odd, and kind of raw.  I could NOT figure out what God was trying to tell me.  With her help I not only saw but felt the revelation that God was trying to show me.

I was created for more.  

My skills are specific to me.

Other people's skills are specific to them.

I won't ever do ministry like Jane, John, or Mrs. Smith do ministry.

I will minister from where I am, no matter where that physical location may be.

People connect to me because of who I am, not because of who I want to be like.

I listen to the bible via my iPhone when I drive.  I hook up my phone to a dealio that connects to the speakers in my car and I press the play button on whatever book of the bible seems to be calling me.  Today after a glorious coffee date with two ladies that blow me away constantly with their love and faith - I chose the book of John.  I randomly picked a chapter.

15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.   John 15:1-4

Wow.  He closed doors (aka cut off branches) not because He doesn't love me, but because He needed me to focus on what He created me to do.  Those branches may have produced fruit, but kids I was t-i-r-e-d when trying so hard to produce fruit on that limb.  Slowly He redirected me (branches are being pruned).  And little by little I am seeing where He needs me to be.  I can't see the whole picture but I am glad for that.

A good friend told me this week that God was planting some words on her heart.  She said, "God needs me to share with you that He used your fibromyalgia and your other medical problems to slow you the heck down!  You are such a do-do-do person that He needed to close some doors so that you could listen, reflect, and set your feet on the right path."

So here's a revelation for you to work through - what doors is God shutting because they aren't the way He needs to use you?  It's the wrong path, and you know it deep down but you're too scared to either speak up or jump ship.  And what is He pruning?  Who or what has recently changed around you and leaves you scratching your head?

The bible says to go to Him with every worry, every fear, every joy, and every ounce of gratitude that you have.  Start there.  After all, He is the beginning and the end.