Responding to God's Blessings

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.” John 15:16a

At Lafayette College, I feel joy as I witness the success of our graduates as they apply the wisdom they have gained in their careers. As I hear of their success in leveraging the degrees they have earned, I am reminded of a similar time in my own life. After four years of a determined pursuit of knowledge, I was awarded my degree in chemical engineering by Grove City College. Unfortunately, 1984 was the year that the bottom fell out of the oil market and so many chemical engineers with decades of experience were laid off. That year, a young woman like me with no experience struggled to get a job. 

Throughout my lifetime, our Heavenly Father has blessed me by creating opportunities for me to gain knowledge and skills that I did not have. My choice has been to use those gifts to serve Him. My service to Him has blessed me by allowing me to gain even more skills and by bringing me joy through the knowledge that I am responding to His blessings by serving Him.

Before I tell this tale, I want to emphasize as Paul does in Romans 3:22 – 24, that I am not earning my way to Heaven through my service. As the verses say:

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justified those who have faith in Jesus.

I emphasize this now because I have been sinfully prone to thinking that I am earning my place in Heaven. In reality, it is His sacrifice that created a pathway for me, and His graciousness in calling a sinner like me to believe in Him and His sacrifice, to beg His forgiveness, and to strive to repent of my sinfulness which has put me on the pathway to Heaven. I respond to that by my determination to know Him, love Him, and trust in Him. I also find joy in serving Him.

I began my career when a Grove City chemical engineering graduate who worked for Pennsylvania State University’s Nuclear Engineering Division contacted me to invite me to interview for a position doing science assembly and classroom presentations focusing on cutting-edge technology in schools throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Given that I was considering going on to earn my master’s degree in education, I jumped at the opportunity to test my potential as a teacher. 

Fortunately, people judged me talented in this regard. As I approached the conclusion of my first year, I was contacted by a consultant at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to join him in creating a presentation for area schools. The opportunity paved the way for a lengthy career there, which gave me on-the-job opportunities to learn how to write and manage media relations activities. 

As my career continued, I faced potential career losses as the companies I worked for were bought out by other companies or failed due to the loss of major clients. In each chaotic moment, God protected and paved the way for me to work for another employer where I gained even more knowledge and skills.

After losing my son, Zachary, in a custody battle with my soon-to-be ex-husband, God also paved the way for me to be offered a job close to Zach’s father so that I could partner with him in raising our child even after our divorce. The job did not include a lot of writing, so the Lord laid it on my heart to volunteer to write for the newsletter at the Evangelical Free Church of Hershey. As I wrote for the Lord, he gave me skills in writing feature stories that celebrated and honored others as they served our Lord. Ironically, when I was told that I would soon lose my job because of my employer’s merger, the talents I gained and the feature stories that I wrote became an instrument for me to be offered a job at a local marketing firm. 

After my son began his studies at Cedarville University in western Ohio, I chose to give up my job at Elizabethtown College and come to the Lehigh Valley to be with my now second ex-husband. Unfortunately, I struggled with finding a full-time job. My part-time job at Lafayette helped me collaborate with my husband in paying the bills, but I felt called to volunteer to support my new church family in launching Cornerstone Connections. Funny tale: I researched an online marketing tool called MailChimp, which offers free support to non-profits like Cornerstone. As I continued my job search for a full-time job, the skills I gained in learning how to use MailChimp enticed SunGard K-12 Education to offer me a full-time job as their Public Relations Specialist. 

My gratitude to our Heavenly Father calls me to respond to his blessings by serving Him. This service brings me joy and helps me grow closer to Him and my church family. I am blessed, like others who serve also are.  

When God calls you, He does not waste your gifts. The story of Rahab early in the book of Joshua demonstrates another individual using her talents to serve God. God gifted Rahab with savviness, which she used to enable the Israelites to enter the Promised Land. Her aptitude for thinking on her feet saved two Israelite spies. In Joshua 2: 8 – 14, we also see how her ability to negotiate with these spies ultimately saves her entire family.

When God called Rahab, He overlooked her sinfulness as a prostitute but did not overlook her talents and intellect. Instead, by using her gifts, Rahab forever changes the course of history. God has also gifted you with skills and talents. When God calls you, He will not waste the gifts He has given you. 

Dear God, I praise You that You have created me with gifts to make a difference. I ask that You open the way for me to use them in extending Your kingdom. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.