The Gifts

(c) Staci Stallings, 2005

Since reading Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel, the meaning of the gifts of the Holy Spirit has suddenly come alive for me. Prior to reading about how grace can transform your life, I was already pretty solid in "letting Him do it." As a reformed control-freak, I had made a conscious choice to stop trying to control everything. I took my hands off the wheel and said, "God, You take my life where You want it to go."

It didn't take long before I could see how much better He put things together in my life. I could see how He put the people I most needed in my life, how He arranged meetings and "coincidences" to guide me in where I was supposed to go, how He formed a relationship seemingly for one purpose even though He had something much bigger in mind. However, it wasn't until Manning's book that I understood that the Holy Spirit was not "out there." It was "in here." In me.

It was literally God's Spirit in my heart, in my body, in my spirit. Wow! Did that understanding open doors!

I had always been taught about the gifts of the Holy Spirit-wisdom, knowledge, understanding, fortitude, right judgment, fear of the Lord, and piety. However, after letting the Holy Spirit not just direct my paths but begin to live through me, I have come to really understand these gifts in a new light.

A friend of mine is teaching a 7th grade Sunday school class. She came one day depressed because during the past Sunday's class her personal life had interfered with her teaching life. She said, "I just think I failed them." I then asked her if she had put it in the Holy Spirit's hands. "Yes." To which, I asked, "Do you think the Holy Spirit can fail?" A long pause. "No."

"Then if you've put the situation in the Holy Spirit's hands, if He is living through you, can you fail?"

It was the first time I had ever put it in those words even for myself, but at that moment, I got it. The more I put my life in His hands and let Him take control in situations instead of me trying to control them based on my meager knowledge and understanding, the more I see that nothing is impossible. Even if something looks like a failure to me, He has a plan.

When you let go and let the Holy Spirit take control, no longer will you have "I should've said but I didn't" or "I would've, but I was afraid." When He speaks to your heart, you learn to listen and to do and to say. Better than that you begin to let HIM listen and do and say through you, and when that happens, the gifts that follow are more amazing than you can ever imagine!

~*~*

Visit Staci's website: http://www.stacistallings.com You'll feel better for the experience!