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Another key component to giftedness is your temperament. Do you have the temperament to be a spiritual entrepreneur? Is this temperament part of giftedness, your DNA? How are you wired? Do you thrive or cringe on chaos? Do you see uncertainty as a challenge to watch God work, or do you break out in a cold sweat? Most people are not wired to be rugged pioneers, ready to conquer and tame uncharted terrain. If God has not made you this way, that is okay. If you don’t like to take risks, that’s okay. It is critical to have an accurate self-awareness of what motivates you. Don’t let your passion dumb down an accurate perception of your capabilities and capacity.
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What is your level of self-awareness? Don’t let the allure of vocational ministry intoxicate you to the realities of who you are and how God has made you. For example, can you, and will you, do all that is necessary in a ministry? As you start your ministry or go through a growth spurt, you will find yourself licking the stamps, brewing the coffee, making the calls, writing the letters, finding the web developer, hiring the bookkeeper, recruiting and leading a board of directors, and raising the money. Are these activities okay with you? Are you gifted and skilled in this way? If not, admit it, and save yourself and your family the heartache, money, and pain in the name of the Lord’s work. But, if you are wired this way, go for it with Holy Spirit-led abandonment, and don’t look back!
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What do you do best? What are your skills? What has God prepared you to do for this exciting stage of your life? The answers to these questions are the essence of giftedness. God does not waste our experiences.
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On the other hand, your ministry giftedness may be related to your professional skills married with a personal tragedy. Michael Leahy was a super salesman in the computer industry, but he lost his marriage because of internet pornography that led him to adultery. But through Christ and accountability with others, he is overcoming his addiction. His skill and gift in communication, coupled with the humility that comes from a personal failure and learning how to overcome his addictions, have given him the platform to follow God’s vocational ministry calling. Many ministries have been birthed out of tragic life experiences.
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One of Rita’s and my favorite spots in God’s creation is Lake Tahoe. Half of the lake is located in Nevada and the other half in California. Over the years we have laughed because we enjoy the $6 prime rib dinners on the Nevada side but stay in a quaint and serene cabin by the lake on the California side.
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On one of our first Crown Financial Ministry Regional Directors Meetings at Lake Tahoe, I discovered some amazing facts about the lake. It is a crater positioned 1 mile high; it has 72 miles of gorgeous shoreline and 32 trillion gallons of icy water. With an average depth of 1,100 feet, the glacial runoff contributes to 99.9% water purity. If you could pour the water in Lake Tahoe over the state of California, the state’s entire land mass would be covered in 11 inches of water.
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Then it struck me: the depth of my character (or spiritual maturity) will determine the breadth of my influence (God working through me). This quality of spiritual maturity only happens over time. Our faith grows as we understand and apply God’s Word and as we experience His faithfulness while we “do life.”
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The worst thing you can do is to try to force God into acting by prematurely jumping into vocational ministry. Starting a ministry or taking it to the next level is hard, and unless you are grounded in your faith, you will give up and potentially miss out on God’s best. The difference between presumption (prematurely assuming God will bless our work, or testing him) and walking by faith (following God in the right way and at the right time, or trusting him) is huge. Wait on him to grow you up and make you ready for what he has in mind; it could mean the difference between success and failure.
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