My favorite take-away from Sunday’s message was Pastor Jason’s very last point: Work the job God gives with the gifts He has given.
I needed to hear this, and God knew that my heart was craving some extra encouragement to simply “get the work done”. Over the past few months, part of my ministry has been working on filming videos where I share my story with anxiety and depression. At this point, all the filming is done and now it’s up to me to post. But it has felt like such a spiritual battle to even get myself to put these videos out. Every day I find myself caught up in a million responsibilities, and at the end of the night I am too tired to follow through with it. The enemy is succeeding in keeping me busy and exhausted.
I think the issue here is that I wasn’t seeing this assignment for what it was. To me, it felt like just another thing to check off my list…another job to do. But to God, this is an exercising of my gifts, a chance for me to speak and teach and reach others for Him. Often times, I have watched Him use a video of mine that goes to the exact person that needs to hear it, right at the moment they needed it.
On Sunday Pastor Jason talked about what happens when the Holy Spirit empowers us to do something. I can speak from experience when I say that it is nothing short of miraculous what He can do when He steps on the scene. Over and over again, I’ve seen Him take my five loaves and two fish and multiply it in a way that only He can. Each day I approach Him with little to give, but He knows exactly what to do with it. He knows where and when and how to send it out.
As believers in God’s greater plan, we need to view these moments as less of an obligation and more of a call. Not one more thing on our list, but THE thing on our list that is for Him. Even the small acts of obedience matter. He is watching what we do with our time, talent and treasure. No gift is too insignificant for Him to use, no amount of sacrifice too little to work with.
This December, as things start to get busier and more hurried…I am clinging to this verse that keeps encouraging me to give it my all for Him, and not for anybody else:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)
When it’s for His glory, a certain pressure to perform is removed. All of the sudden, the work becomes lighter because we realize that the empowering and the boldness comes from outside of us. It’s His Spirit at work, nothing we can manufacture on our own. This should motivate us to do our work with excellence, with a greater sense of Who we serve.
I know this month will be a busy one for you too, but remember that God has given you all the capacity you need to serve the people with whom He has entrusted you . Don’t get caught up in the enemy’s noise or distractions. The assignments Jesus gives are what matters. And you have everything you need inside of you (the Holy Spirit!) to do it well.
I needed to hear this, and God knew that my heart was craving some extra encouragement to simply “get the work done”. Over the past few months, part of my ministry has been working on filming videos where I share my story with anxiety and depression. At this point, all the filming is done and now it’s up to me to post. But it has felt like such a spiritual battle to even get myself to put these videos out. Every day I find myself caught up in a million responsibilities, and at the end of the night I am too tired to follow through with it. The enemy is succeeding in keeping me busy and exhausted.
I think the issue here is that I wasn’t seeing this assignment for what it was. To me, it felt like just another thing to check off my list…another job to do. But to God, this is an exercising of my gifts, a chance for me to speak and teach and reach others for Him. Often times, I have watched Him use a video of mine that goes to the exact person that needs to hear it, right at the moment they needed it.
On Sunday Pastor Jason talked about what happens when the Holy Spirit empowers us to do something. I can speak from experience when I say that it is nothing short of miraculous what He can do when He steps on the scene. Over and over again, I’ve seen Him take my five loaves and two fish and multiply it in a way that only He can. Each day I approach Him with little to give, but He knows exactly what to do with it. He knows where and when and how to send it out.
As believers in God’s greater plan, we need to view these moments as less of an obligation and more of a call. Not one more thing on our list, but THE thing on our list that is for Him. Even the small acts of obedience matter. He is watching what we do with our time, talent and treasure. No gift is too insignificant for Him to use, no amount of sacrifice too little to work with.
This December, as things start to get busier and more hurried…I am clinging to this verse that keeps encouraging me to give it my all for Him, and not for anybody else:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)
When it’s for His glory, a certain pressure to perform is removed. All of the sudden, the work becomes lighter because we realize that the empowering and the boldness comes from outside of us. It’s His Spirit at work, nothing we can manufacture on our own. This should motivate us to do our work with excellence, with a greater sense of Who we serve.
I know this month will be a busy one for you too, but remember that God has given you all the capacity you need to serve the people with whom He has entrusted you . Don’t get caught up in the enemy’s noise or distractions. The assignments Jesus gives are what matters. And you have everything you need inside of you (the Holy Spirit!) to do it well.
Erika Pizzo
Erika is an author of various books on the topics of faith, mental health, and victory in Christ. Erika lives with her husband, daughter, son, and their fluffy poodle in sunny Southern California. Her two favorite things are a visit to the beach and a chai latte in hand.