Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been reviewing some of the gifts of the Spirit that the Lord has equipped us with. Some of them, such as faith, wisdom and knowledge, we often overlook, not even recognizing them as spiritual gifts at all. We view them as just part of human nature, and those who don’t have them just need to try harder. Therefore, we fail to appreciate them for what they really are, diminishing their precious value.
Other spiritual gifts are so obviously heavenly and out of this world that we either doubt that we have them, or doubt that anyone has them at all. We’re not familiar with the heavenly realm, so we immediately deem them as implausible or unachievable.
We even take the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Living God for granted most of the time.
Hopefully, by the power and grace of the Lord, I’ve helped to open our eyes up to these God-given treasures, both the ones that are difficult to spot, and the ones that aren’t. However, one problem remains:
We still won’t always “feel” God the way that we want to.
I first recognized my gift of visions when I was a freshman in college.
[sociallocker]
I was visiting my best friend at her school in Newport News, Virginia, and after sharing what I’d seen in my mind, my friend informed me of the gift I’d been given.
At first, I was in disbelief – for about 45 seconds. Then I was ecstatic, honored and humbled to have been granted such an endowment from the Creator of the Universe. Who was I, to be able to see things from the Lord Christ? I accepted it with joy and enthusiasm, and experienced many visions for the next couple of months.
Then there came a time where I lacked hugely in the vision department. I felt cut off. I felt disconnected from the Lord – I couldn’t feel Him in the way I wanted to, because I wasn’t experiencing this gift as frequently anymore. Visions made Him “feel” more real to me, because I knew what I was encountering was so far out of this universe. And then it disappeared for a while, and showed up in random spurts.
Maybe you’re like me in that way, sometimes feeling as though Abba has snatched away your precious gifts for a while. Maybe you ask yourself sometimes, “Did I do something wrong? Why do You keep taking it from me, God?!”
Maybe some of you have been completely unaware of the gifts that you do have from the Lord. You don’t see the beauty and honor of the capacities that God has given you in the Spirit; they don’t “feel” like spiritual gifts to you. Of course, then, you never feel as connected to Him as you so desire.
Well, I think I have some ideas as to why we can’t always feel Him the way we long to, and believe it or not – they’re not bad. Not one bit. Only challenging.
Stay tuned for next week’s post to learn more with me!
[/sociallocker]
