Something new

 Last sunday at church, I attended a class on discovering my personality type and my spiritual gifts. I had taken it twice before but I was excited going into it because I was looking forward to see if there had been changes in my personality this past year.
I took this class for the first time right after becoming a staff member at Grace 2 years ago. Back then, I was vaguely aware what my spiritual gifts were and how I would fit. Discovering so much about myself in one night as well as getting a better (and scientific) understanding of the why I did what I did was amazing.
The second time around was a year later and I took it because I felt I had grown to become a different person after a year in ministry. Sure enough there were significant changes in my profile. My DISC profile went from being IS(inspirational specialist) the first time to an SI(steady influencer) which is a more accurate description of me. I suspect the first time around I projected more of what I thought people expected of me than the real me.
This time around I was not expecting much change but I found out something I have never suspected about myself. According to the chart, my strongest spiritual gift today is the gift of teaching!
TEACHING! Where did that come from??? Trust me I never desired nor fancied myself to be a teacher. Sure I love to learn about people and share what I know with them in conversations but that is hardly teaching. Anybody who knows me at all knows that teaching has never been anywhere on my radar of things to do or things that I am good at. My other trusted spiritual gifts of serving, wisdom, mercy and encouragement were all there, just right under teaching. Teaching rated pretty low last year and this year it is the highest. It prompted in me a lot of reflection and self-inspection to see how, where and when the change occurred. I haven't nailed it yet but after asking some trusted friends, I found out that they see that seed in me.
I asked myself is it something God has revealed to me and that I should pursue and perfect for the advancement of His kingdom. Honestly now that I am over the initial shock, I am excited to delve into this new foray of spiritual growth. Practically I took a hard look at where I was when it came to knowledge because I believe that it is important to have sound theology and a good amount of bible knowledge before attempting to influence others and I wasn't happy with what I saw. Luckily, the C part of my personality (accurate, analytical, fact-finder, conscientious) will thrive in this endeavor. I love learning and I am looking forward to honing the knowledge part of this spiritual gift. I believe that I will be sharing with others relationally rather than in a formal setting(trust me nobody wants me teaching in a formal setting). I also love to share what I know so looking at teaching that way makes it less intimidating. I know I shouldn't feel so daunted by this because the God who gave me this gift also equipped me to use to bless others. But the the same C part of my personality leads me toward wanting all my facts verified and proved, laid-out in a easily understandable format and arguable with formulas and examples that work every time. I am striving to get such breadth of heavenly things but that I know that will never happen.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts."
                                             Isaiah 55:9

I will never be able to explain the reason why some things happen. Truthfully I am ok with that. However I can try hard to remind people of the one thing I know doesn't change and that is His Living Word. The Bible will never change and I rest assured that when Jesus said: " “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me", he meant just that in every situation, language or decade of our life here on earth. Now THAT I can boldly share with the people I know. THAT I can teach.