If you’ve ever doubted your calling to ministry, consider this: God has been molding and shaping you for ministry since before you were born!
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous–and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.” (Ps. 139:13-16 TLB)
This passage indicates that –
- God shaped you for a purpose,
- You are unique, and
- You are wonderfully complex.
You are a composite of many different factors, summarized in the acrostic, S.H.A.P.E.:
Spiritual gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience
Spiritual gifts
The Bible teaches that God gives every believer certain spiritual gifts to be used in ministry (1 Cor. 12, Rom. 8, Eph. 4). However, I believe spiritual gifts are only one part of the picture. In my opinion, spiritual gifts are often overemphasized to the neglect of other equally important factors. Natural abilities that you were born with also came from God. So do your experiences and inborn personality traits. Your Creator planned these factors as well.
I also believe most churches get the process backwards. They say, “Discover your spiritual gifts and then you’ll know what ministry you’re supposed to have.” I believe the exact opposite of this: Start experimenting with different ministries and then you’ll discover your gifts! Until you actually get involved in serving, you’re not going to know what you’re good at.
Heart
The Bible uses the term “heart” to represent the center of your motivation, desires, interests, and inclinations. Your heart determines why you say the things you do (Matt. 12:34), why you feel the way you do (Ps. 34:7), and why you act the way you do (Pr. 4:23).
Physiologically, each of us has a unique heartbeat. Each person has a slightly different pattern. Likewise, God has given each of us a unique emotional “heartbeat” that races when we encounter activities, subjects, or circumstances that interest us.
Another word for heart is passion. There are certain subjects that you feel passionate about and others that you couldn’t care less about.
God had a purpose in giving you your inborn interests. Your emotional heartbeat reveals a very important key to understanding his intentions for your life. Don’t ignore your natural interests. People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing. High achievers enjoy what they do.
Abilities
These are the natural talents that you were born with. Some people have a natural ability with words. They came out of the womb talking! Others are naturally good with numbers. They think mathematically and they can’t understand why you don’t understand calculus.
