Knowledge, Wisdom, Gifting (3)

Success depends on three things : knowledge, wisdom and gifting. In the last two days we have considered that knowledge is our responsibility. We are the ones who must gain knowledge, which in this day and age, is as close as our finger tips. However, to apply that knowledge within the definition of our relationship with our LORD, we need wisdom. Wisdom is found in Yahweh, who freely gives it when we seek and ask for it. But there is a third element we need for success and it is one most of us neglect. What is your gifting?

Long before we see light or breathe air Yahweh knits into us gifts. Some people refer to these as talents or abilities but gifts is a better description because they have been given to us by our Creator. These are the things that we do not learn but are born with the ability to do. We may have to practice our gifts to become more familiar with them but they are the thing that gives us the ability to do better than most people.

For instance, I am a musician. I started learning how to play a musical instrument in the fifth grade. It was not an easy thing for me but it made me feel like I was part of something; something special. It took me hours of practicing but even with my great effort I could never rise above average. Yet I watched other children around me excel. Certainly they had to work hard at their craft but there was something inside of them that made them shine. I became a mechanical musician, doing all the right things at the right time, but the gifted ones moved people when they played.

We spend a lot of time teaching children the fundamentals in education and we try to get them to pursue what interests them, but we spend little time in investigating their gifts. Many people spend their lives working against the grain, doing the things that are mechanical and average instead of what their Creator had given them to do. Let me give you an example from the Scriptures.

Yahweh was instructing Moses on the tabernacle he wanted built so there would be a place where the priests could carry out their obligations to him, a place for the people to offer worship. He was very detailed in his instructions and something like this, such a holy place, needed to be built of the best materials in the best manner possible. It could not be mediocre or average. It required artisans but the very best of the artisans. This is what we discover:

And I (Yahweh), indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you. (Exodus 31:6)

Here we see the three elements that we have been speaking of: knowledge, wisdom and gifting. A little more specifically we read:

And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship (Exodus 35:30-31)

We can study hard, gain knowledge and even receive wisdom to know how to apply that knowledge but if we want real success, as described by our LORD, then we need to work within our gifting. Uri had the knowledge of his craft, but it was the LORD who called him to be above everyone else by the gifting and wisdom he have him.

Yahweh has given us these gifts for a purpose and the responsibility is on us to know what those gifts are so we can walk in our purpose. Don't just look at what interests you but what you are good at doing. Ask the LORD to reveal it to you. Ask your family what they see in you. Ask your pastor and friends. Understand there is a plan and design for you and the LORD wants you to be successful in it. That doesn't mean money and fame necessarily, but successful in what he has given you to do.