Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts.
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Hoarders
In our men’s Bible study this morning, our leader pointed out the number of believers who are, in essence, sitting on the gifts God gave them. They have capacities; they see problems their capacities could help solve; yet they sit on those capacities rather than using them.
And the concept of hoarding came to my mind.
You’ve heard the term, no doubt. It applies to people who compulsively hang onto items they don’t need but have an irrational fear of releasing. So their homes become cluttered beyond the functioning point, and onlookers gasp in disbelief as they see hoarders stack piles of useless items from floor to ceiling, leaving barely enough space to walk between rooms. It’s a sickness, to be sure, and a terrible waste. Things that someone else could make use of are hoarded; a healthy lifestyle is choked out by the unused piles; and both the hoarder and the person who could benefit from the hoarded materials lose out.
Bizarre, sure, and for most of us, something that’s hard to relate to.
But could the term “hoarder” apply to you as well? Let’s all ask ourselves this weekend if there are needs we see, or wrongs we lament, or projects we’d love for someone take up, all of which we wring our hands over, then do nothing about.
Mind you, we all see more need than we could ever respond to, so simply seeing a problem doesn’t require being part of the practical solution. Still, I so often find that when I feel deeply about something, and have an idea what should be done about it, and wonder why nobody is doing it, it’s because that “something” is a something God’s drawn my attention to, giving me both the burden and the gifting to address it.
Paul said in Ephesians 4:12 that the gifts God has given to the church – apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists – are given for the building up of the body of Christ, so the Church might be strengthened for Her work. That tells me that we’re given certain capacities we’re called to use for the sake of empowering and completing the Body. And one way to determine what those gifts might be is to look at the burden on your heart, the passion that keeps you up at night, and the opportunities you have to do something with both.
Because as sure as you’re reading this, someone you know needs encouraging, and that someone is on your heart and your desire to put an arm around their shoulder won’t go away. Someone else needs a loving kick in the butt, and yours is just the foot to deliver it. Or there’s a project, ministry approach, or innovative idea that just won’t leave you alone, and instead of seeking ways to implement it, your ability to help is being hoarded, piling up in your soul, cluttering you and keeping its potential beneficiaries from the good it could do them.
Give a good listen to your spirit this weekend, and see if there’s not something being hoarded that needs to instead be released. The simple prayer, “Lord, is there something You’re calling me to that I’ve ignored?” is one He’ll be all too happy to answer. And when His answer is clear, and in response your answer is “Here I am, Lord, send me”, then all of us benefit. And hugely.
So if it’s time to step out, then this weekend I hope you’ll do just that. And I hope it’ll be a wonderful weekend, too.
God bless.
Love,
Joe
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