By Frank King

Martin Luther King - A gifted speaker

Do you know God's purpose for your life? If you don't, believe me, you are not alone. I know some Christians who have been on a quest for tens of years trying to discover the purpose of God for their lives.

I believe that sometimes, we are just looking too hard. For instance, I was recently reflecting on my own experience in this regard, and I entertained an interesting point. It is that more often than not, we can see evidence of God's purpose for our life in our natural abilities, if we just pay attention. When I was in grade school, for example, I was very shy. During class, I seldom opened my mouth. But interestingly, whenever my teacher asked me to stand before the class and speak, I took great pride in speaking loudly and clearly, and I felt comfortable doing that. My teacher told me she felt I was destined to be a public speaker of some kind.

Similarly, when I reached the twelfth grade, my English teacher observed that I had strong grammar skills. She often complimented me on that and thought that when I grew up I should be a writer of some kind.

During those years in school, I was not a Christian, and so I never thought about how those God-given abilities my teachers observed in me might be connected to the purpose of God for my life. But now that I have been preaching and writing for over 30 years, I can see the big picture. And I am saying to you that if you don't know what your ministry gift(s) is, you should pray to God to help you discover it, but also I am saying the answer may be hidden in plain sight. What is it that you seem to have a knack for, and your ability in that area stands out before others? The answer to this question may suggest what your calling is.

Let me make sure you catch the chain of events here. My high school teachers made some predictions or suggestions about my future--years before I became a Christian. You see, I believe that the thinking among many Christians is that God waits until a person becomes a Christian, and then He decides what gifts and abilities He will give the person. The truth is that He saves and calls us "according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Timothy 1:9).

Since God determined His purpose for us before the world began, it should not be hard to understand that we can be born with gifts consistent with that purpose. As for me, it was some time after I became a Christian that I discovered God's purpose for my life. It turns out that the gifts my teachers saw in me as a youth were consistent with what I later discovered was God's purpose for me. Hopefully, my sharing this will help those of you striving to know God's purpose for your life.

Copyright 2011 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Frank King is a former church pastor. He is currently an evangelist and an author. Frank holds a Master of Theology degree. Through the grace of God, Frank has been blessed to cross cultural lines in his preaching. Website: http://www.efrankking.com
Blog: http://wwwefrankking.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

Used with permission

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