Give It All You've Got…

I recently spent the morning at one of our local Lifeway outlets.  It is usually one of my stops twice a year as I try to discern what study is best for our upcoming semester of Bible study. The staff is usually curious when I stack up workbooks and seem to have nowhere to go for hours. Having just completed a semester, I had lots of ideas swirling in my mind. Selecting curriculum is not my favorite task. It is hard to make a decision knowing that I cannot possibly please everyone. The Lord is ultimately the only One that moves hearts, but I sense a huge responsibility for each woman that God desires to attend. Am I discerning His best correctly?

There are the authors we have frequently studied. Then there are the new, fresh faces. Do they have something to say that will resonate with the needs of my ladies? Are they theologically grounded? Can they be trusted? I hear the voice of the woman who can’t make it through her homework each week, followed by the one who uses the word “deeper.” There is definitely fluff out there too be avoided, but the word “deeper” always makes me a little nervous. We should all be pursuing a deeper walk with the Lord, but deeper is measured in obeying from a heart of love, complete surrender, and time at His feet.

Having taken a stab at my first writing project, I now look at the spines of the books a little differently. In some ways, there are so many. Why write if it will only collect dust on a shelf? Some books have sat there unpurchased since last semester when I was last lingering in the store. I know a few of the authors, which is curious. Sometimes the anonymity makes the author seem more godly. Other times, it makes them seem less approachable. Angela, Beth, Priscilla, Ann, Kay... Too many illustrations, too academic, too girly, too few Scriptures, too much homework, too short. Please spare me recipes in a Bible study! Then it hit me. Just like us, they are doing their best to use the gifts God gave them. We only get to live once. Our days are numbered. Instead of critiquing each other and being fast to criticize what does not measure up in our eyes, what if we really grasped the brevity of our days? What if we gave it everything we had each day? Whatever our talent, whatever our strength... don't save it until it is perfect. Don't save it until everyone approves. That day will never come. I think God can use our imperfect gifts... If only we will freely use them for His glory instead of our gain.