The Great Commodity: Self

I have several books on my "now-reading" list that are collecting dust.  I brushed one off last night and read a few chapters.  The Warmth of Other Suns is about the great migration of African Americans that occurred in the United States between the Civil War, World War II and into the 1970's.  I am toward the end.  Many of the participants in the book are reminiscing about how their migration from the south has affected their lives. 

In an interview one of the gentleman says, "So we are of a particular time" speaking of the historical events that he and those like him had lived through.  Freedom from slavery.  Jim Crow Laws.  Extreme racism.  Flight to the north or the west.  The generation that witnessed first hand many of these atrocities are now out of place, relics of an earlier time, seeking an outlet to teach the wisdom they gained finding the audience less than eager to listen.  

It got me thinking that we are all of a "particular time".  The events that surround us and, most importantly,  our reactions to them define us in some ways.  Like Pastor Shawn's message a few weeks ago about Philip and the Ethiopian or Queen Esther or any of us, we are all "of a particular time."  How we use that time we are in shapes us and becomes a part of our story.  It gives us specific wisdom if we are humble enough to be taught by it.  Wisdom to share if we are courageous enough to let God use it.

During Pastor Shawn's message God challenged me to spend myself for Him.  I have been talking with Him about what He meant exactly and have found that the situations I find myself in and events that unfold around me greatly determine how I spend myself for God, how I use this "particular time" for Him.  Most days I feel I have nothing left to spend but I have found the most amazing truth.  If God asks me to spend myself for Him in a certain situation He also gives me the means with which to pay.  St. Augustine once wrote, "Although He is our native country, He made Himself also the Way to that country."  God is my goal, and He is also the means with which to get to that goal.  How crazy cool is that!!!

We are all of a particular time.  I challenge you to spend your greatest commodity, yourself, for God within your particular time and trust that He will give you the currency you need for each specific situation.

He is a Great God and He will do it!