Be What You Are Meant to Be

Recently I had the privilege of talking to those who serve at the Bill Rice Ranch about contracts. Each year we sign contracts for the following year. My goal is not to keep people here if they shouldn’t be here or push them out the door if they shouldn’t leave, but to give clarity to the decision they are making. That is beneficial to all of us regardless of age, station, or state in life. The Bible also gives clarity to how we can know what we should be doing. The other day we talked about motive, means, and opportunity. You have motive, what you want, means, what you can do, and opportunity, what you have the chance to do. Do you have the motive, means, and opportunity to convince you to do what you are doing or to be what you are.

First Timothy 4:13 says, “Till I come, to give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” Timothy was to pay attention to these three things because he was gifted to give through these things. He was in the main a preacher. Verse 14 says, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy.” The gift that Timothy had was in him and it was given to him.

All of us have gifts. You are a gifted person. C.H. Spurgeon supposedly said to a bunch of young preachers, “Gentlemen, if you cannot preach, you are not called to preach.” That sounds harsh, but his point was simply that if God has called you to do something, then God has gifted you to do it. Therefore, when the Bible says, “If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work,” it leaves off there, not with some great angelic vision, but with a desire. Does that mean we just depend on whatever we want, our whims? No, but why would I desire a work? It should not be for the money or status. The desire comes as a recognition of the gifts God has given.

When God commissioned the prophet Jeremiah, He essentially said, “I formed you in the womb. I pointed you in a certain direction for a purpose. I have made you physically and I have made you with gifts.” All of us are gifted. The Bible speaks of spiritual gifts, and you have other gifts as well, natural and supernatural. God has given those to you. Nothing is more pointless than wanting to be what you are not or wasting and not cultivating what you actually are. People who do something in this world are gifted people who work hard. It is both a gift and hard work. So, you may not know what your gifting is, but God has made you by design for a purpose. You don’t have to know God’s grand design to know that there is one.

So, your gifts are given by God and your gifts are given for a purpose by design. Paul says to Timothy in verse 14 “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee.” It is given by God. Colossians 4:17 says, “Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord.” God gave it.

John R. Rice was very active in writing and in revival crusades for many decades in the mid 1900’s. When he was in college one of his professors told a group of young ladies, “If you don’t want to marry a preacher, don’t marry John Rice.” John Rice wasn’t a preacher. He was an English major, in the debate club, and played football for the college. He wasn’t a preacher. Well, actually he was, but he just didn’t know it. That professor recognized in John Rice something he didn’t see in himself. It was a gift from God. John Rice went on to go to other colleges both as a student and a teacher, and didn’t know he was an evangelist until later. His gift was given by God and it was recognized by others. The gift you have is not to you; it is through you. It is not intended to make you rich or prominent. It is to make you useful.

Your gifts are also given by design on purpose. Have you ever seen at Cracker Barrel all the old farm implements hanging over your head and wonder what they are for? You may not know it, but they have a purpose. You could probably guess the purpose by looking at the design. God has designed you with gifts and maybe there are many things you can do with them. I know people in nursing who have a nurturing spirit, a gift for care. They are so good at it because they have a gift that God gave, temperament, ability, and other things. The gift has been given for the purpose of serving God and others.

It is kind of like a squeeze shoot where cattle are pushed into a coral that narrows to one end, where the cow is branded, tagged, inoculated and let go. In grade school you are looking at all the subjects and wonder why you have to learn certain things. Well, no one knows, but you need to get a broad foundation. In high school you have electives where you can decide what classes you want to take. By the time you get to college, you are compelled to give a major, the main thing to focus on. If you get your PhD, it is not in general science or biology, but on the lifespan of garden snails in Southern Louisiana. It is specific. But you don’t want to squeeze yourself into a narrow space until you know the way God has gifted you.

Work on your gifts God has given you. Remember you are serving as unto the Lord. II Timothy 1:6 says, “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee.” Be willing to do anything and be obedient any time God gives guidance. It may be the gifts I know about are not the only gifts I have, but if I will expand the gifts I have, then I can be useful in this life and for the kingdom of God. That is what I want to be. Nothing is more pointless than wanting to be what I’m not or wasting the gifts that God has given me.