God’s given me a gift. I shovel well. I shovel very well.
(The Shoveler in Mystery Men)

    On my thirtieth birthday my husband, Mike, came home with another woman. Okay, so she was the baby-sitter, and he was bringing her home as part of a surprise for me. Mike was stealing me away for the night. He had planned it all behind my back: a delicious dinner at a great restaurant in town, then a long drive to a remote area in the mountains where a tastefully decorated cabin awaited — complete with a rushing river just outside the door and a blazing fire inside. He’d thought of everything: chilled sparkling cider in the refrigerator, a box of chocolates on the table, even a bottle of scented bubble bath beside the tub.

    It was a wonderful gift. The problem was, Mike was the only one who knew about it.

    I had no idea. I simply knew that Mike was late coming home, dinner was ruined — and I was in no mood for surprises. So when he came in the door with the baby-sitter and told me to pack my bag, I cried in protest, “But I don’t know what to pack! I don’t know what to wear! I dont want to leave Tony overnight! What’s going on?”

    Patiently, Mike answered as few questions as possible; he didn’t want to ruin the surprise. And eventually I was out the door. The rest of the weekend was a glorious affair, of course. But I still hate surprises, no matter how good they are. I’m the kind of person who wants to know things up front.

    Well, there’s good news for people like me — and for you too. God has given each of us a gift, and he doesn’t intend for it to be a surprise. I’m not talking about the gift of salvation, which is, of course, the greatest gift of all; I’m talking about spiritual gifts.

    According to the Bible, each Christian has been given at least one spiritual gift. But perhaps you’re like me with my birthday surprise; you know something wonderful is ahead, but you don’t know what that something is. And once you find out, you’re still likely to cry, “But what am I supposed to do with it?”

    Entire books have been written about spiritual gifts, so I won’t go into great detail here. You might want to visit your local Christian bookstore or church library to find more in-depth studies. But I want to at least touch on this subject because spiritual gifts have a lot to do with a woman’s touch.

    Basically, spiritual gifts are special abilities or talents God gives to each of us when we become Christians. There are a variety of spiritual gifts, and each one is important. According to the Bible, these include prophecy, evangelism, pastoring, teaching, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, exhortation or encouragement, service, giving, leadership, mercy, discernment, speaking in tongues, and interpretation of tongues.13 This is not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea-there are a lot of them!

    It’s not God’s intention to keep your gift a secret. In a sense, you can open it immediately. But since there is no literal box to unwrap, how can you know what gift or gifts you’ve been given?

    There are a number of ways to determine your spiritual gifts. For one, you can check with your church to see if it offers one of the many spiritual gifts tests that are available. These “tests” are actually inventories with multiple-choice questions to help you narrow down your interests and abilities and relate them to the gifts listed in Scripture. A Christian bookstore might also have one or more of these tests in stock, perhaps as part of a book on spiritual gifts. Taking an inventory is perhaps the easiest and quickest way to begin identifying your gifts.

    Another method is to ask yourself: What are the desires of your heart? Do you love to serve others, whether or not you get a reward? You might have the gift of service. Do you find yourself often sending notes of encouragement to lift the spirits of others? Perhaps your gift is exhortation, Of course, this method is not entirely foolproof; our willful hearts often desire the more “glamorous” or attention-grabbing gifts-we may want to he an evangelist, for example, when our real gift is mercy.

    Another way to determine your gifts is to ask other Christians who know you well. They might see administrative or leadership abilities you’ve never noticed in yourself. They might recognize the wisdom you have to offer, or see your great faith.

It’s not God’s intention to keep your gift a secret.

    Another method — the one that relates most to the scope of this book — is to examine the results of your touch on others. Have you observed a young girl following your advice and blossoming? You might have the gift of wisdom. Did your neighbor’s frown change to a smile because of the pep talk you offered? You might have the gift of encouragement. Did your coworker decide to give her life to Christ after you explained the gospel to her? You might have the gift of teaching or evangelism.

    Sometimes identifying your gift is pretty simple. I love to have others into my home and make them feel valued and welcome, so it’s not difficult for me to know I have the gift of hospitality. I also enjoy teaching and have been told numerous times that my lessons are enjoyable, applicable, and easy to understand. Again, it’s not hard for me to see I have the gift of teaching.

    On the other hand, it may take time and study to recognize the gifts God has placed in your heart. Only after much prayer, Bible study, and input from others did I come to understand I have the gift of wisdom. That one wasn’t obvious to me. If your spiritual gifts are not immediately obvious, don’t give up. Your gifts are valuable. They’re the fingerprints of God pressed uniquely into your heart-and he will use hem to touch the world around you. It’s important to search them out.

    But don’t be anxious. God’s intent is not to surprise us with our spiritual gifts late in life. (“Okay, I’ll finally reveal what’s been behind Curtain Number Three for the last twenty-seven years.”) It’s not his desire to reduce us to begging and pleading to know what they are. God wants us to know how he has touched us, what he has provided for our lives, and the wonderful plan he has for us. He wants to see us obediently and cheerfully using his gifts.

    Why? Well, as Romans 12:4-5 reminds us, God has given us our spiritual gifts for a purpose. He has designed his church like a body, and each of us is a part. It doesn’t matter what our gifts are; it doesn’t matter if we’re a heart or a hand, an eye or a toe. We each have an important role. I need to be exersizing my spiritual gift and you need to be exercising yours if the body of Christ is going to be strong and effective in the world.

    So get that gift out and start using it! The rest of us are depending on you. And God is just waiting to see the smile on your face when you open the box.

    Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me one or more spiritual gifts. Open my eyes to see what these gifts are and how to best use them to further spread your touch.

Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it, and it takes every one 0f us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others. (Romans 12:4-5 TLB)