Post Covid 19, the year 2021, I had one of the biggest revelations I'd ever experienced. The Lord has a way of taking something you've thought or heard before and giving it new meaning, new life. That is what He did for me after barely emerging from the Delta variant. I won't go over all of the gory details, but I will say, it was the fight of my life. But God. He saw fit, in His mercy, for me to remain in the land of the living, but not without utilizing the opportunity to minister to me, to admonish, even reprove me. It felt like grace mixed with chastisement. Yes, I wasn't getting off the hook without this experience being a lesson I would never forget. I shall never forget how I felt walking away from that battle. I literally felt I had come back to life- life felt new again, reset, refreshed. But why? Why had this happened with such aggression when I had been so healthy? Well, we now know the erratic nature of Covid and how it doesn't play fair. Either way, it became a vehicle by which my Lord and Savior communicated an invaluable lesson to me.
When I had recovered and lie resting in solitude, I heard clearly these words; "Are you going to express yourself?" If you know like I do, when the Lord asks a question, He already knows the answer, but his asking establishes precedence within you and it is intended to takes you to a higher level of thinking. You are immediately changed and your inner atmosphere shifts. As much as it has taken me some time to fully comply, I was immediately inwardly, changed.
God's questions are always followed by an "unfolding". It was unfolded to me how important my expression is in the world, how important each of our expressions are toward the grand scheme of things. We were created for expression. As a painting is intended to tell a story, so is our expression. As a fruit when it is fully ripe, is expressed, and its nectar fortifies the consumer of it, as it's essence and seed fertilizes the earth it came from, so do we add absolute necessity to the perfection of God's canvas. We are the expressions of God that He looked upon from the very beginning and said, "It is good." The things people accept about you and the things they do not, when expressed with a pure heart, in authenticity, literally reflects back on the Maker who created your differences like an intentional paint stroke from a masterful artist. He made you-you on purpose for the purpose of reflecting His own gifts back to himself.
When you are harnessing your gifts, sharing them with the world, you are sharing God. You are giving back what He gave and this cycle is to be as consistent as the world spinning on its axis. God created our gifts to be used up to fill the length of our days, I had slowly, yet surely begun to hide my gifts. I felt the pressure to shrink back and I caved. But God. God utilized the time when I could have perished, to remind me to live. Live life in full expression of your gifts. Do not let unfocused individuals, life's pressures, and its fast pace, cause you to dumb down your talents because it is not really about you. It's about the whole and the part that we play in it. It's the giving back to the Giver. All of the things you desire will fall into place when you walk in purpose, which is obedience to God's will for your life. There is safety in the expression of your purpose. You stay open to communion with the Master when you express yourself with your talents- it is as if you are singing Him the most beautiful song. Expression is the vehicle for your gifts and God wants you to know that to Him and those who have His heart, it is good.
