About 15+ months ago I started a diligent routine of prayer journalling.  This routione has 2 aspects:

1. In the morning I pray/journal the things I need to “turn over” to God

2. At night, I pray/journal the things I am thankful for

As you can imagine, it is a lot easier to list things that I am thankful for than admitting/confessing the things that I need to release and turn over.  Frankly, it can be down right tough to confess the things that I need to turn over….but I am getting more comfortable with it and have been so blessed by the exercise.

Over the past month or so I have really been struggling with the dichotomy of “turning over” on one hand and using the gifts God has given me on the other.  I have taken no less than 1/2 dozen personality profiles over the years…in fact, just took another last week.  In each case, I am pegged as:

1. Dominant

2. Hard driver – Rocket personality

3.  Decisive

4. Aggressive

5. Strategic, ideation, maximization, etc.

So…I have been struggling with the incorporation of those God given traits with the need to release control (my big nemesis) to God.  So, I spent some time with my mom and dad (what a blessing to still have them in my life…praying for me daily…Love you!!!) and raised this conundrum with them.  My dad was a pastor for 25 years then was involved in administration of large heath facilities (still a pastor…just with a different congregation).  He shared with me the principle of  ”Don’t Touch the Glory”.  This is a principle that he had heard several times including from evangelists as well as Cliff Barrows with The Billy Graham Crusades.

Here is the premise of the principle:

- Use the gifts God has given you

-Use the situations God has placed you in

-Be the BEST you can be with the gifts provided

-Be willing to participate in God’s plan…not yours

-DON’T TOUCH THE GLORY – it all belongs to God

That has been really freeing for me.  I was struggling with turning things over, which seemed to be a passive act…and yet my gifts and personality are much more action oriented.  As I have thought on this and shared it with others, I can see that God has gifted me/us each with skills, expertise, life experiences, talents…and brains.  He gave these to use for a reason.  He wants us to use them…not hide them under a basket.  But…we need to use them for HIS glory…not our own.  These gifts are his…nor ours.  He gave them…he intends to use them through us to fulfill His plan.  So…I have the freedom and responsibility to use them…but not to bring me glory…rather Him.  There is great freedom in that for me…and I hope for you as well.

So…go use all the gifts God has given you…just don’t touch the Glory.

By the way…if you are going to the NACBA conference this week in Orlando, come spend some time with me and Ron Chandler from Shelby Systems on Friday morning at 8:30 for our workshop on Church Facility Management: The Facts.  Hope to see you then.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.