Ginger Harrington Blog Posts for Deeper Life with God

Had Your Vision Checked Lately? The Gift of Spiritual Sight.

“Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. ” (Hebrews 2:8b ESV).

Setting aside His glory, the palpable evidence of His God-Presence, Christ entered fully into the human experience. Fully God, yet completely human. It boggles the mind to truly focus on the cosmic leap that Jesus made in becoming a man.

He sacrificed the unthinkable; I struggle to pay attention to what He says. Christ suffered with agony deep as payment for my callous sin; too often I neglect his sacrifice, my great salvation. Christ experienced every temptation known to man, and is able to help me overcome temptation; many days I don’t even try to resist temptation. This book of Hebrews is a word to discouraged believers, who had a tendency to take salvation lightly, those who neglected to truly follow Christ.

Under His Feet
Using the Old Testament writings (Psalm 8:4-6), the writer of Hebrews demonstrates the both the humanity and the authority of Jesus. As a man, Jesus, like us, is made a little lower than the angels; yet He is crowned with glory and honor. God has placed all things in subjection to the authority of Christ (Hebrews 2:6-8). There is nothing, not one soul, not one rock, not one day that is not subject to Christ. How hard our independent hearts can strain against the Lordship of Christ.

Verse 8 continues, “But now we do not yet see all things subject to Him.” I look around and see the arrogant rebellion of cultures clashing hard against the love of God. Disbelief multiplies rampant, stirred on by the political machines of our day. I look within, discovering a heart too easily bent toward independence and self-promotion. So much that we do not yet see with eyes earth-bound by sin: A whole kingdom to come, ushered in on the backs of the faith of men. Future glory. <Tweet this.>

“A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His presence.” AW Tozer (The Pursuit of God).
All the difference.
But.

We do see Him.

And that makes all the difference.

Standing in the gap between this moment and eternity is Jesus, the One who calls us brethren. The One who has entered our humanity, experiencing our suffering and temptation. Present in our waiting world, we can see Him now. [tweetthis hidden_hashtags=”#Jesus #Insight”]Yet how do we see what cannot be seen? Like squinting into the wind, we cannot physically see Christ.[/tweetthis]

Seeing what cannot be seen
The word blepo, means to look at (literally or figuratively), behold, perceive, regard, and to take heed. This is a spiritual seeing with the eyes of the heart, a Holy Spirit given clarity of insight, a resonance of perception—a grasping of the mind and understanding of the will.

Using this same word, Jesus often talked about the blessing of spiritual sight:

“But you have God-blessed eyes—eyes that see! And God-blessed ears—ears that hear! A lot of people, prophets and humble believers among them, would have given anything to see what you are seeing, to hear what you are hearing, but never had the chance” (Matthew 13:16-17 MSG).
Eyes that don’t see.
Contrast this with Paul’s quoting of Isaiah in Acts 28:26:

“Go to this people and say to them, You will indeed hear and hear with your ears but will not understand, and you will indeed look and look with your eyes but will not see [not perceive, have knowledge of or become acquainted with what you look at, at all]” (Acts 28:26 AMP).

This Spirit-given sight comes through faith:
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”#Faith”]“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).[/tweetthis]

As we continue to grow in faith, God works to sharpen our spiritual sight. Understanding and seeing intertwine as Christ reveals Himself to us. I’m so grateful, for I certainly cannot make myself see more clearly–it is a grace-gift fromGod.

How’s your spiritual sight? Is it time to get your vision checked? Ask God to continue to sharpen your awareness of His presence today.

You Can Find Peace: A Summary of Peace Verses

Finding Peace in Everyday Life: A Journey Through the Peace Series
When life feels noisy and overwhelming, peace can seem like the one thing always out of reach. That longing for calm in the middle of stress is what first inspired me to write the Peace Series here on the blog.
What began as a handful of reflections has grown into a reader-favorite collection of posts, all centered on one theme: God’s peace is not a fleeting feeling—it’s a steady gift He offers in every season of life.
Over the years, I’ve heard from so many of you that these short devotionals and practical reflections helped you breathe a little deeper, trust God a little more, and remember that His presence brings peace when circumstances do not. Because of your response, this original series later became the inspiration for the updated Habits of Peace Summer Series (2025) on the Habits of Hope Podcast.
But before we get to the new content, let’s revisit the heart of this earlier series.

Why We Need Peace
Stress, change, uncertainty, or even the daily grind can leave us unsettled. God’s Word reminds us again and again that His peace is meant to guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7). These posts explore what that looks like in the real world—when the laundry piles up, when anxiety presses in, and when you’re simply tired of trying to hold it all together.

What You’ll Find in the Original Peace Series
Instead of a complicated formula, each post points to simple practices and biblical truths that nurture peace:

Need a Little Peace?
God’s Word + Obedience + Peace
When Peace Gets Away: My Struggle with Anxiety
Bring on the Peace
Believing God: The Rest of Peace
The Lesson of Letting

Together, these posts trace a journey of learning to notice God’s presence, surrender burdens, and let His peace settle into the everyday moments.

Moving Forward: The Habits of Peace Series

Because this series resonated with so many readers, I returned to it in 2025 with a fresh look. The new Habits of Peace Summer Series takes these themes deeper, offering short podcast episodes designed as a “soul reset.” It’s about cultivating peace not just in big spiritual moments but in ordinary daily rhythms—prayer, perspective, and practical habits that train our hearts to rest in Christ.
If you enjoyed the original posts, I’d love for you to explore the updated series and let it encourage you all over again. Listen, read, or watch in the updates 2025 Habits of Peace Series:

40.Need a Little Peace? A Simple Habit to Notice When Peace is Missing
41.How to Pursue Peace God’s Way: A Simple Habit to Calm Your Soul
42.Peace is a Person: How to Embrace Calm in the Presence of Christ
43.How to Find Perfect Peace When You Feel Stressed (Isaiah 26:3)
44.One Peaceful Habit to Respond with Grace When You’re Angry
45.How to Let Go of Control and Let Peace Rule in Your Heart
46.Peacemaker vs Peacekeeper? How Jesus Calls Us to Respond to Conflict
47.Why Do I Keep Losing My Peace-Even When I’m Trying to Trust God?
48.How to Feed Your Soul and Grow Lasting Peace (Galatians 5:22)
49. Live in the Overflow: How to Experience God’s Peace Every Day (Romans 15:13)

A Final Word
Peace doesn’t come from finally getting life under control. It comes from the steady presence of God, who promises to be with us in every season. My prayer is that these words—whether from the original series or the new one—will remind you that His peace is always closer than you think.
Pass this post on to everyone you know who needs a little peace.

Peace be with you,

Ginger

Embrace Truth Emotions Faith

Bring on the Peace

This post is part of my original Peace Series—one of the most loved collections on the blog. The timeless truth here is simple: peace isn’t about having life under control, it’s about learning to steady your thoughts on God. Because so many readers resonated with these posts, I’ve refreshed the series in 2025 with the Habits of Peace Summer Series on the Habits of Hope Podcast. In this new collection, you’ll find short, practical episodes that build on these same ideas with fresh rhythms and encouragement for today.
So let’s revisit where it all began: how to bring on the peace when stress and distraction try to crowd it out.

Perfect peace.
Wouldn’t that be nice? In today’s world, we can find lots of reasons to let stress push aside peace. Our culture has lots of formulas for peace, or at least lots of ways to make us feel better. Try this, do that, buy this entice advertisements. The internet is filled with articles that promise 3 Easy Steps to making ourselves better, thinner, smarter, or richer. All of this beat-stress-feel-good about yourself stuff may be helpful to an extent, but it falls short when it comes to delivering perfect peace.

And that’s what we really want, isn’t it?

Sometimes we don’t even know perfect peace is what we are longing for.
Peace–it’s a mind thing.
Perfect peace has everything to do with what’s going on in our minds. Processing an average of 70,000 thoughts a day, the human mind is an amazing thing. Isn’t it interesting that God tells us that the content of our thoughts relates to the condition of our peace?

When it comes down to it, our minds cannot generate peace. It is more a matter of how we use our minds that help or hinder. The steadfast of mind–this is the condition, the mental posture that enables us to receive the blessing that God provides–the peace of His Spirit.

Be aware of what you are thinking about. “Don’t concentrate on your problems; keep your mind on Jesus and His good plan or your life.” (Joyce Meyer)
Steady does it.
We often think of steadfast as meaning strong and steady, but surprisingly, the meaning of this Hebrew word means to lean upon or take hold of. I had always looked at this verse in terms of trying to accomplish the impossible, or at least like trying to swim upstream. Sometimes holding my thoughts steady can seem impossible, so I am grateful that this verse is talking more about God’s ability.

Leaning on God, I can depend on Him to provide the mental self-control that I so often lack. It is the turning, depending on God that opens the door to receive the soul peace He offers.
The keeping of God.
When God keeps our minds in perfect peace, He guards, protects, and maintains. In and of my own efforts I can’t hang on to peace longer than a few minutes before something barges into my bliss and ruins the mood. With God, peace isn’t a mood or a feeling, it is a gift.

It comes down to a matter of trust.

The steadfast of mind–our part is to lean our thoughts on God.

He will keep in perfect peace–God’s part is to bring on the peace!

Because–here’s the kicker–the bottom line…
We trust in God.
God’s recipe for perfect peace begins and ends with our participation of bringing our thoughts to Him in trust.

A key factor in trusting God is letting go of my desire to control things- to know the answers and forge the path. This desire for control, to make everything turn out like I think it should, is often the motivation behind my thoughts. Most fears and problems can be reduced to this common denominator of control verses trusting God.

When we choose to turn our thoughts to God’s faithfulness, we can let go of the mental and physical striving to fix, solve, find, force, and make things turn out.
Calm Seas.
James speaks to this relationship between trusting and doubting.

James writes, “for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6b-8 NASB).

We’ve all experienced mental and emotional sea-sickness that comes from that back and forth effort of worry and doubt. How good to know that God’s grace covers our instability of faith when we turn our thoughts to Him.
Identify bad mental habits.
So when bad mental habits, such as doubting, complaining, resenting, arguing, or controlling begin to steal your peace, turn your thoughts to God,

“…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:2).

What mental habits are stealing your peace today?

Been blessed by what you’ve read today? Subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss any posts. We can all use a little more peace, so pass this post along to a friend today.
Enjoy the Full Habits of Peace Series (2025)

Embrace Truth Emotions Military Life

When Peace Gets Away: My Struggle with Anxiety

This post was where my journey with anxiety first found voice—and eventually led to writing Holy in the Moment. Years before the book, I sat in a doctor’s office besieged by a hyperthyroid diagnosis, unable to sleep, and gripped by relentless fear. It was in those raw and anxious moments that Philippians 4:6–7 became my lifeline, and that transformation became the seedbed for both this original Peace Series and the pages of my book.

Because this story has resonated with so many of you, it also inspired the Habits of Peace Summer Series (2025) on the Habits of Hope Podcast—a fresh companion series offering short, daily rhythms to steady our souls in real life. So let’s begin here, in the honest place of fear and trust, and then head over to discover practices that bring God’s peace into your everyday, just like they did for me.

God’s peace is beyond our ability to truly understand, yet it arrives with the power to protect, to guard our hearts and our minds, safe in the hand’s of Jesus.

Our crazy heart, the seat of our feelings, responds to peace and the mind, interprets peace. In this verse, there is a specific route to peace that involves refusing to give in to worry and choosing to pray instead.

I don’t know about you, but I frequently do the praying, but have trouble with the Not-Worrying. I am grateful that God does’t put a qualifier on our prayer, He just tells us to have the faith to ask Him for everything that we need.

Yes for me, the hardest part is this be-anxious-for-nothing way of living. You see, I happen to be very good at worrying. It is one of the few things that I just might be exceptional at… Anxiety and I have a track record, a history.
Anxiety Robs us of Peace
Years ago, I sat in a bare, utilitarian Dr’s office, checking on lab results. “No one called you?” asked a rather frantic nurse. She explained to me that my thyroid test (six months old) indicated that I had Graves Disease, a hyper-thyroid autoimmune disease. My first thought was, I am moving three small children across the country in three weeks, I can’t be sick.

I don’t have time to be sick.

I didn’t matter.

I was tested, diagnosed, and medicated, then release to move my merry way. “This isn’t so bad,” I thought as packers loaded up the truck and we readied our van for the cross-country trip. A few weeks later, as we pulled up to our new home in Monterey, CA, the imbalance of my hormonal system tipped to a place called uncontrollable. Plunging down the incline of a thyroid-induced roller coaster, blood pressure and adrenaline flooded my system and it was months before I felt anything close to calm.

It was months before my hands stopped shaking.
No Peace
Fear marched in with a take-all vengeance. A persistent feeling of dread plagued my days as we got settled and I tried to take care of our three little peeps. Peace a distant memory, I stopped sleeping and my nights were filled with a useless energy that kept me pacing and unfocused. No matter what I tried, I could not turn off my mind or my feelings.

6 weeks later I was a basket case–afraid to go out and afraid to stay in.

Afraid of being afraid.

Afraid of nothing specific.

Afraid of everything.

Unable to eat and no longer able to drive a car, I worried I would never know peace again. By the time my doctor decided to radiate my thyroid, destroying the tissue, my uptake was at 95%.

It is a humbling and frightening thing when your sense of sanity and well-being are as fragile as numbers on a lab report. In this strange and difficult time, God surrounded me with sweet friends, He brought His Word to life and helped me through. These were days that I hung on with all my might, waiting for God to bring me through the waters of upheaval.
Peace Lessons
During these anxiety-filled days and nights, Philippians 4:6-7 was a verse I repeated often. I wrote it, journaled it, prayed it, meditated on it, repeated it, yelled it…

Sometimes God takes us through things so that we can learn on the deep level of experience (Click to tweet). There comes a time when it is not enough to say it, or even think we believe it. Moments come when temptation pounds against belief, and we experience God in a new way as He provides for needs, ministers comfort, infuses strength, and lends us miracles. He brings us through.

He is with us.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you” (Isaiah 43:2).

As God brings us through,

belief is forged iron-strong into our core.

Lesson upon lesson,

layer upon layer,

faith upon faith,

struggle to victory, He is ever faithful. (Click to Tweet).

In the fire of hard things, God builds faith, and we begin to know the relationship between prayer that is the deep cry of the heart and the peace of God. Though my deepest struggle with anxiety had a hormonal cause, anxiety and worry are unwelcome visitors that show up from time to time. Regardless of the cause, the effect is the same:
Anxiety robs us of peace like no other.
God showed me, “When you are anxious, your heart’s emotional attention is on the problem, the need, the uncertainty rather than being fixed on Me. When you look at the storm, the storm is what you will see. When your mind is stayed on Me, you will know the perfect peace that grows out of trusting me and is evidence of My Presence within you. I AM your peace.”

Be anxious for nothing.

But in everything…

What is your everything today?
Life After Anxiety

Fast forward to 2025—life looks very different now. My kids are grown and married, and I’ve stepped into the joy of being a Gigi. Along the way, I published Holy in the Moment, helped launch a nonprofit for military women (Planting Roots), and served as senior editor for the first seven Planting Roots books. I’ve also stepped into podcasting with the Habits of Hope Podcast, continuing to share encouragement and truth for everyday life.
I still experience moments of anxiety, but it no longer rules my life. I’m deeply grateful for God’s healing work and for the blessing of a grace-based Christian counselor who helped me understand my journey and develop healthy ways to navigate my emotions.
That healing journey has shaped everything I’ve written and spoken about since 2015. Whether through books, blog posts, or podcasts, my heart is to keep pointing others toward the steady hope and peace only Christ can give.

Catch the full Updated Habits of Peace series on the blog and the podcast!
Series Summary:10 Habits of Peace: A Complete Guide to Experiencing God’s Peace (Episode Summaries + Links)
Habits of Peace Episodes

Embrace Truth Listening to God

God’s Word + Obedience = PEACE.

To have peace, or not to have peace…
All too often, that is the question, isn’t it? When we’re searching for peace, what is it, exactly, that we’re looking for? For some, this may seem like a stupid question…but if you’ve ever been caught in a whirlwind of conflict or anxiety, if you’ve ever been plagued by a restlessness in your soul, you’ve grappled with the question. You know that peace can be hard to define and even harder to obtain.
God knows we need peace.
In fact, words on peace move consistently throughout the Bible, from Old Testament to New. From the first act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden and ending with the millennial reign of Christ, God consistently speaks to our need for peace.

He acts to provide this peace that we need.

The Bible states that those who have God’s word, or law, have peace. When we embrace God’s ways, one of the by-products of obedience is the blessing of peace. Conversely, when we choose to disobey God’s ways, one of the pathologies of sin is lack of peace. Most of us have smoke detectors installed in our homes to warn us of the danger of fire. Programmed to sound a sleep-jarring alarm, detectors indicate the presence of smoke. In much the same way, lack of peace, (in whatever form you experience it) provides a warning, calling our attention to a problem.
God’s Word + Obedience = PEACE.
In reality, the formula for peace is simple. Not easy, but rather simple.

Psalm 25:10 tells us “All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth
To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” God’s ways are good, and obedience brings many blessings, one of which is sweet peace. When you know deep in your soul you are on the right track, peace rules. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you… ” (Colossians 3:15-16a).

When we veer off course, choosing to go our own way, lack of peace shows up in a myriad of ways–guilt, remorse, unease, bitterness, resentfulness, discontent, or fear. We’ve all done it. We have experienced it. Many of us have some area of sin that keeps coming around, a frequent temptation.
Prone to Sin
Do any of these words sound familiar?

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).

For me, this is an area that I struggle to follow God’s instructions. When my feelings are hurt, I have a hard time letting it go. My sinful tendency is to keep a record of offenses, to mull them over, build cases, and re-hash the whole thing over and over. Let me tell you, this doesn’t make for peace in my heart.

Somehow, I will usually turn the offense in on myself, and the emotional turmoil goes from bad to worse. A bad cycle that doesn’t bode well for healthy relationships, God has had to remind me over and over again to love as He loves. I let it go, forgive and finally put the offense away, and peace returns.

How about you? What are those areas in life in which sinful thoughts, attitudes, or actions want to suck you in and rob you of peace? Now I’m not asking for true confessions here, but think about it. Identify those hot spots and do the following:

It’s worth it–all day, every day. When we leave sin unchecked, peace is the first blessing to run out the door. So here’s to embracing peace today.

Be sure to like this post if you have struggled with overcoming sin and finding peace. You may be able to encourage someone who needs this reminder.

Embrace Truth Listening to God Quiet Time

Guest Posting Today on The Stream’s Edge

Hi there friends. Just a quick happy Sunday hello. Hope you have enjoyed God’s peace this weekend. I invite you to click over to The Stream’s Edge, where I am guest posting today. Join me for Three Easy Steps for Listening to...

Enjoy Life Blog Posts Ministry

When Work and Ministry Meet.

Today we are continuing focus from yesterday. If you missed yesterday’s post, you may want to check this out first: Maximize the Overlap Between Gifts, Work, and Calling.

Faithful in our work.

Let’s take a look at David, the young shepherd boy, out on the hillsides tending sheep and fending off lions and bears. God used his experiences as a young boy to teach and train David to courageously fight in defense of others. Through the daily experience of fulfilling his responsibilities, he learned to be confident in both God and himself. Through his work, God developed the heart of a servant-shepherd as David learned to act decisively when a threat is present.

Prepared to act.

Shepherding prepared David to answer God’s call to defend God’s name and fight the giant Goliath. Call rose up out of a heart passionate for God, out of the indignation that anyone would insult the Living God. In essence, God used David’s experience and training to play a vital role in fulfilling God’s call to lead the nation of Israel.

How about us?

When we are faithful to follow God in our daily responsibilities and vocational work, He can prepare us to use our gifts and experience to accomplish His purposes. What if David had not seen the connection between what God had trained him to do in the past with the need before him in the present? What if David had thought his skills only applied to defending sheep? Remember that herding sheep was one of the most lowly professions–not the stuff great heroes were known for.

How about you?

What is God doing in your life, through your life experience, your training, your gifts, and your calling? Do you see the overlap in your life? For a long time I kept thinking of spiritual gifts only in terms of teaching Bible study and ministering directly to the body of Christ. I had my life neatly organized into separate boxes–personal, professional, spiritual.

Now, when I teach my water fit classes, I ask God to make my work a blessing to those in my class. I bring the same prayerful desire to bring the presence of Christ into all that I do. I ask God to use me to encourage and motivate my clients to aim high and work hard.

This is my friend Dasha Gariepy. An avid horse women and a fun blogger, Dasha has found that sweet spot of joy in sharing her experience and heart for ministry in a non-church setting. She volunteers at Dream Catcher of L.A. Therapeutic Riding Centers. Yesterday she posted these awesome pictures that show this dynamic, joyful place where gifts, calling, work, and ministry meet. Click on Dasha’s name to visit her blog.

There is joy and fulfillment in learning to operate in our spiritual gifts in whatever we are doing, for God is always at work, both inside and outside the church walls. His calling and gifts can become part of who we are, part of how we think, as well as present in what we do!

This picture says it all.

What has happened in your world when work and ministry meet?

Embrace Truth Ministry

Maximize the Overlap Between Gifts, Work, and Calling

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.” Colossians 3:23

The overlap between experience and calling.
When we meet someone, the first thing we often ask is, “What do you do?”

For many of us, there may be an overlap between personality, spiritual gifts, and vocation. When there is that overlap, vocation becomes a good fit, often hitting a sweet spot.
You are God’s gal on the job.
There are many ways to use our gifts– in ministry, in community, in industry.

You don’t have to be inside church doors to let those spiritual gifts roll out in blessing, productivity and relationship. You can be God’s person on the job whether you work in the home or in industry. Learn to maximize the overlap between gifts, work, and calling by energizing your efforts with Godly motivation. Do your work for the Lord.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17).

My primary spiritual gift is teaching. When God teaches me something, that new insight comes bursting with the desire to tell someone. Interestingly, my work experience includes teaching English, social studies, drug education, and water fitness.

See the overlap?
Which came first?
Personality traits, talents, vocational interests, or spiritual gifts?

Growing up, I loved to play teacher. I became a Christian when I was 15, and later decided to teach English my junior year in college. I didn’t begin teaching Bible studies until 10 years later, but God was working in the whole of my life–experience, training, gifts, and calling.

Class room teaching experience, prepared me to answer God’s call to speak to groups in ministry. In many ways, the animation required to hold the interest of middle schoolers has helped me present material that is fun and engaging. Also, teaching English provided experience and background that I have definitely tapped into in writing Bible Studies.

We tend to think in chronological order of time, but God is working with the whole of who we are and who He made us to be. His sovereign hand is at work in all of our lives which includes personality, experience, opportunity, and gifts. Though not all spiritual gifts have a direct correlation with vocations, your spiritual gifts and calling can come into play in your work as well as in ministry.

How do you find ways to maximize the overlap between gifts, work, and calling? Share your experience by leaving a comment in the box below. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Embrace Truth Emotions Listening to God Ministry

When You are Afraid You’re Not Good Enough

Why is it that we can struggle to be bold when it comes to using our gifts?

How many times have we taken a deep breath, fighting down the urge to duck and cover, to hold back when it comes to using our gifts? At times, hesitant to even speak our mind or express an opinion?

As if we know.

As if we are some kind of crazy-gift-experts, we look at our meager offerings and judge the fruit of efforts as…not good enough.

Haven’t we all felt this way at one time or another? More often than we’d care to admit?

Comparison asks the wrong question.
[tweetthis]Why is it so tempting to compare ourselves with others as if God can only use the very best of the best?[/tweetthis]

Comparison can cause some serious set-back making when it comes to using our gifts. Comparison can choke out passion to fulfill the desires God gift-grows in our hearts. Last time I checked…

[tweetthis]…serving God isn’t a competition…but we sure act like it is sometimes.[/tweetthis]

We evaluate, measure, compare…often times using the mixed-up standards of this world to decide if our gift is enough. To decide if we are enough.

Fear steps in, ever ready to agree with our tentative spirits that yes, indeed, our gift is not good enough.

Timid and unsure of ourselves, we hold back.

Maybe we turn back. Maybe we leave it to someone who can do it better, bigger, bolder. At the end of it all, comparison asks the wrong question.

The right question is, what does God want to do through this gift?
Don’t hold back.
As I read and lay my soul down in the first chapter of 2 Timothy, I find I need the same reminders that Paul gave Timothy. I need these words of encouragement overflowing with the love and affection of a teacher for his favorite-student-become friend.

I think of the times, countless times, in this fledgling writing and ministry life, that I have raked myself across the coals of evaluation and comparison, turning to the responses and feedback of others to measure worth and value.
Stepping out in faith?
So here I am– on the brink of sending a book proposal into publishers who have requested a copy. Folks who are willing to take a look. Long shot in a competitive market.

Is my gift good enough to break out of volunteering at a job I don’t have? Work of four years in someone’s hands and maybe all they will see is what I lack.

This is the voice of timidity. The calculating voice of one afraid to fail. Weigh the odds before taking the risk… That defeating spirit of timidity lurks in the corner of my days, never far from my thoughts:

Maybe better not to send it. Easier.
That’s timid talk.
If you know this struggle in some area of your life, read these words with me. Read them loud. Read them to anyone who will listen. Read them until you begin to believe them.

For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
2 Timothy 1:6-7

[tweetthis]Fear that stifles the outpouring of our hearts doesn’t come from God. Period.[/tweetthis]
Whose gift is it really?
Somehow we tend to think of gifts as something we own once they are given.

My gift. My calling. My purpose. My responsibility.

Every gift is from God—it is His and He takes pleasure in seeing His gifts come alive in the unique personality of His children.

His gift. His calling. His purpose. His provision.

Deep under the surface, I tend to think of this gift in terms of what I must do with it, become through it, excel in it. Though I know better, this old thinking pops up too often. In reality, isn’t each spiritual gift an opportunity, a privilege, a front row seat to participate with God in something He wants to do?
A different perspective.
I think it is almost as if each God-gift is an open-ended vessel, placed within the secret place where spirit meets flesh—rather than a box wrapped up tight. A vessel that the fresh creativity of the Holy Spirit can pour through…when I don’t get in the way with my fearful evaluating… Not good enough… Put the gift away.

This, sweet friend—is not what God’s gifts are for.

God’s gifts are not for us to hoard and hide until we decide we are good enough.

They are to be used for the building up of the body of Christ. Sometimes it isn’t just the gift that needs kindling.

More often, it is the embers of faith that need to be fanned into flame, burning away all traces of fear. The holy-fire of passion embraces what God has given along with each gift–a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. In essence, He gives us what we need to step out in faith, using our gifts for His glory.

What’s holding you back from using your gifts?