S16P15 – Personal lessons from Paul: the glove that fits

1 Cor. 12:11, 28
All these things [the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering] are brought about by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses.
So God has appointed and placed in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then those who work miracles, then those with the gifts of healings, the helpers, the administrators, and speakers in various kinds of tongues.

When we dedicate our lives to God, we accept all that comes with this commitment. We take the good along with the bad. We accept when God gives us what we ask and when He declines to do so. We recognize that He has full and perfect domain over how He chooses to deal with us and what He chooses to give us. And as we each seek our places in the kingdom, we must approach that search with the same attitude.

Paul was chosen by God for something very specific. I might read his writings today and others’ writings about his life and envy him, desiring that God would use me in such a mighty and historically important way. Paul, however, teaches us that God chooses to whom He distributes the various gifts and abilities, those things that help us accomplish our callings in the kingdom. If we trust in God’s purposes, then we accept the calling He decides. Instead of seeking what God has apportioned to another in his perfect design, we must thank him for what He has given specifically to each one of us to accomplish.

God’s calling on your life is chosen by him and not a matter of random chance. He makes this choice with intent. Your work in the kingdom is just for you, assigned by God himself and for a great purpose. Do not search to fulfill the calling of another. Trust that God’s giftings and abilities given to you are his best. Father, teach us daily to treasure that which you have bestowed on us to do, being fulfilled in the knowledge that You have called each of us with a purpose and a plan.