Sometimes I wish I was funny. Not so much in real life, but in the way that I write and speak. I have listened to others and wished I had the ability to make people laugh. Most of the time my writings come from hard experiences of my life, vulnerable places, places that have been challenging or stretching in some way. And although I appreciate how God has taken things that were difficult and given purpose to those things, sometimes I wish I could just make people laugh.
This has come up a few times over the past year as I have begun to speak regularly at my church. Finally this fall God began to show me that what he’s given me to speak, is specific to me. And what he gives another to speak, is specific to them.
I’m an avid reader and as I think of the authors I’ve read throughout the years: some are funny, some are serious, some witty, some radical, and some traditional. Never have I read someone whose voice encompassed all of these things in one. Which is good. No one should have it all, otherwise we could be tempted to follow and listen to only that person. But instead when read as a collection, together as many voices, speaking of one; it makes sense. It paints a fuller picture of Jesus.
God makes no mistakes. We are all called to a unique place.
1 Corinthians 12:29 states, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.”
Scripture goes on to say that no matter who you are or your role in the body of Christ, our highest goal is to simply love those around us (1 Corinthians 13).
All different voices. Sharing one continuous thread of love and hope. Woven together in a beautiful tapestry all pointing to Jesus: the only one who can be all things to all people.
If you’re funny, be funny. If you speak to the heart of things, do it well. If you champion a specific cause, raise your voice. If you’re an artist, do it for the glory of God. If you sing, lift up the name of Jesus.
I am not called to be all things to all people, Jesus is. I’m simply to be obedient to what he asks me to speak. So now, instead of wishing I could be funny, my prayer is simply, “God, give me the words you want me to say, and I’ll say it.”
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