You Have a Ministry. Your Gift Is Not a Trophy—It’s a Tool.
God has given every one of us something that His house needs.
We have been redeemed by grace, placed in His body, gifted by His Spirit, and called to use what He has given us to help His people, strengthen His church, and glorify Jesus.
There is a prayer that rotates on the screens before every service at my church.
I had seen it dozens of times.
Then one night during pre-service prayer, I looked up and actually noticed it.
Nothing about the slide was necessarily new. It had been there all along. But this time I read it differently.
It said:
MY MINISTRY
Thank You, Jesus, for calling me into Your church, work and ministry.
Help me to never quit or fail You.
Please anoint me to help Your people.
Please help me be a blessing to my pastor.
Please allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow through me.
Please let me carry my share of the ministry burden.
Please keep me in Your perfect will.
Please stop me from ever hurting Your work or Your people.
Please help me stay in Your Word and not be distracted.
Maybe this isn't simply a prayer we put on a screen.
Maybe it describes the kind of people God is calling us to become.
Notice what it says.
Not their ministry.
Not Pastor's ministry.
Not the staff's ministry.
Not the worship team's ministry.
MY MINISTRY.
There is something God has put in you.
There are people God has equipped you to help.
There is grace God has placed on your life.
There is a portion of the work of God that you can carry.
Ministry Flows Out of Belonging
Before we talk about what God wants from us, we have to remember what God has already done for us.
Paul writes:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith… not of works… For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8–10
Look at the order.
Saved by grace.
Then:
Created for good works.
We don't serve Jesus so He will love us.
We don't serve so we can earn a place in His house.
We don't minister so we can prove that we're important.
Jesus has already done the work that gives us our place.
We serve because we've been redeemed.
We serve because we've been loved.
We serve because we've been brought into His family.
We serve because grace has changed us.
So don't hear this as:
“The church needs more from me.”
Hear it this way:
“Jesus has invited me to participate in what He is building.”
Ministry isn't how you earn belonging.
Ministry flows out of belonging.
And one of the clearest pictures of this in Scripture is a man named Bezalel.
God Calls People by Name Into His Work
Israel has been delivered from Egypt and is camped at Mount Sinai.
Moses is on the mountain receiving incredibly detailed instructions from God concerning the Tabernacle—the place where God would dwell among His people.
For six chapters, Exodus 25 through 30, God gives Moses detailed instructions regarding Israel's worship: dimensions, materials, furnishings, priestly garments, incense, oil and sacred objects.
Then Exodus 31 begins:
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ‘See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…’”
Exodus 31:1–3
Imagine the size of the assignment.
And then God essentially says:
“I already know who I have prepared to help build it.”
God knew Bezalel's name.
God knew his abilities.
God knew his background.
God knew his assignment.
And God said:
“I have called him.”
But Bezalel wasn't Moses.
He wasn't Aaron.
He wasn't one of the priests.
He wasn't the preacher.
Bezalel was a craftsman.
He built.
He designed.
He worked with wood, metal, stone, fabric, details and structures.
And God called what he did holy work.
That means we need a much bigger definition of ministry.
Peter writes:
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
1 Peter 4:10
Notice:
Each one.
Not some.
Not only professionals.
Not only people with titles.
Each one has received.
And then:
“Minister it to one another.”
Church was never designed to be a handful of gifted people doing ministry while everyone else watches.
The Holy Spirit Anoints More Than Microphones
Exodus says God filled Bezalel with His Spirit:
“…in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship…”
Exodus 31:3
For what?
To preach?
No.
To sing?
No.
To stand publicly and prophesy?
No.
To build.
To create.
To solve problems.
To work skillfully.
To take what God had commanded and turn it into something tangible.
Sometimes we make the word anointing far too narrow.
We understand an anointed preacher.
An anointed worship leader.
An anointed singer.
But Scripture also gives us a Spirit-filled craftsman.
What about the person God has given unusual wisdom to organize?
The person who can lead?
The person who understands finances?
The person who can build?
Fix?
Design?
Cook?
Teach?
Encourage?
Administrate?
Listen?
Give?
Pray?
Show mercy?
Welcome people?
Work with children?
Disciple teenagers?
Solve technical problems?
God knows how to anoint hands as well as voices.
Paul writes:
“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit… diversities of ministries, but the same Lord… diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.”
1 Corinthians 12:4–6
Then he tells us why:
“The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.”
1 Corinthians 12:7
Different gifts.
Same Spirit.
Different assignments.
Same Lord.
Different ways of working.
Same God.
That makes one line from the prayer incredibly significant:
“Please anoint me to help Your people.”
Notice the destination of the anointing:
Help Your people.
Not:
“Make people notice me.”
“Give me a platform.”
“Make me important.”
But:
“Give me what I need to help somebody else.”
Your Gift Is Not a Trophy. It Is a Tool.
This may be the sentence I most want people to remember:
YOUR GIFT IS NOT A TROPHY.
IT IS A TOOL GOD HAS ENTRUSTED TO YOU TO HELP SOMEBODY ELSE.
Peter calls us stewards of God's grace.
A steward understands:
This came from God.
This belongs to God.
This exists for God's purposes.
And I'm responsible for what I do with it.
Your gift is not your identity.
Jesus is your identity.
Your gift is your stewardship.
That distinction matters because gifted people can begin needing their gifting to feel valuable.
If people notice me, I'm valuable.
If I'm needed, I'm valuable.
If I'm on the platform, I'm valuable.
If everybody knows my name, I'm valuable.
No.
Your value was settled at the cross.
Your gift is simply something God has entrusted to you.
Romans 12:6 says:
“Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…”
I love the simplicity.
Let us use them.
If God gave you a gift to encourage—encourage.
If He gave you a gift to lead—lead.
If He gave you a gift to serve—serve.
If He gave you a gift to teach—teach.
If He gave you resources and grace to give—give.
If He gave you compassion—show mercy.
Stop staring at somebody else's gift and start stewarding yours.
Comparison asks:
“Why can't I do what they do?”
Stewardship asks:
“God, what have You put in my hands?”
How Do I Discover What God Has Put in Me?
Maybe you believe God can use you, but you genuinely don't know what your gift is.
Here are five places to begin.
1. Look at What God Has Already Put in Your Hand
What can you already do?
What comes naturally to you?
What have you learned?
What experiences have shaped you?
What problems do you understand?
What can you do that consistently helps other people?
Sometimes we're waiting for something dramatic while ignoring something God has been developing in us for years.
Ask:
“Lord, what have You already put in my hands?”
2. Pay Attention to What Moves Your Heart
Philippians 2:13 says:
“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
Why does one need bother you when everybody else walks past it?
Why do you notice certain people?
Why do you care deeply about a particular generation?
Why does someone carry a burden for children?
Marriages?
Grieving people?
Prayer?
Missions?
Young people?
A burden by itself doesn't automatically establish a calling.
But it can be a clue.
Ask:
“God, what are You teaching me to care about?”
3. Listen to What Mature People Recognize in You
Bezalel didn't simply announce:
“I'm anointed. Everybody listen to me.”
Moses publicly recognized what God had placed on him.
Sometimes other people see grace on your life before you know what to call it.
Ask somebody spiritually mature:
“Where have you seen God use me?”
“Where do you see grace on my life?”
“Where do you think I could grow?”
4. Look for Fruit
Jesus said:
“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit…”
John 15:8
Don't only ask:
“What do I enjoy?”
Ask:
“Where does what I do actually help people?”
When you serve, are people strengthened?
Encouraged?
Taught?
Cared for?
Drawn toward Jesus?
Fruit can help confirm gifting.
5. Develop What God Has Given You
A real gift can still be undeveloped.
Being gifted doesn't mean you don't need training.
Being Spirit-filled doesn't mean you don't need preparation.
Being called doesn't mean you don't need correction.
Bezalel was filled with wisdom, understanding, knowledge and skill.
And God also gave him the ability to teach.
“And He has put in his heart the ability to teach…”
Exodus 35:34
Don't miss that.
God didn't only give Bezalel the ability to do the work.
He also gave him the ability to teach others how to do the work.
His gifting wasn't designed to stop with him.
There was multiplication built into it.
At some point mature ministry stops asking only:
“What can I do?”
and starts asking:
“Who can I help become capable of doing this too?”
Because mature gifting multiplies.
A Healthy Church Is One Where Every Part Carries Its Share
Another line in the prayer says:
“Please let me carry my share of the ministry burden.”
Paul gives us an incredible picture of this in Ephesians 4.
God gives leaders:
“for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:11–12
Who does the work of ministry?
The saints.
Leadership equips.
The body ministers.
Then Paul describes maturity:
“…the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies… according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body…”
Ephesians 4:16
There it is.
EVERY PART DOES ITS SHARE.
There are seasons in the life of a church when a smaller number of people have to carry more.
Sometimes circumstances require it.
Sometimes people are hurting.
Sometimes you're rebuilding.
Sometimes you're simply trying to keep moving.
But that is not God's long-term picture of a healthy church.
God's picture is:
Every joint supplying.
Every part functioning.
Every believer growing.
Every gift being stewarded.
One person carries prayer.
Another hospitality.
Another children.
Another discipleship.
Another worship.
Another administration.
Another mercy.
Another generosity.
Another outreach.
Another teaching.
Another practical service.
And when every part does its share:
The body grows.
Maybe one sign of what God is doing among us is that we stop asking:
“Who is going to take care of that?”
and increasingly begin asking:
“Is that part of what God has equipped me to carry?”
We Are Sitting in the Fruit of Somebody Else's Faithfulness
I don't have to imagine what this looks like.
I can see it in the history of my church.
Recently I heard one of the longtime ministers at my church tell stories about how God interrupted his life, how he first began attending church, and how God eventually used him and many others to literally help build the church.
It immediately made me think about Bezalel.
God gives vision and direction for His work—and then God raises up people with the gifts necessary to help carry it.
Decades ago, God put vision in the heart of my pastor for what He wanted to build.
And then God began bringing people.
People with construction skills.
Drywallers.
Carpenters.
Painters.
People who knew steel.
People who could work with their hands.
Then He brought musicians and singers.
Administrators.
Finance people.
Secretaries.
Organizers.
Children's workers.
Ushers.
Greeters.
People with people skills.
People with practical skills.
People with spiritual gifts.
And together they built something.
Not one person.
Not one gift.
Not one generation.
A body.
Every joint supplying.
Every part doing its share.
Today, I'm sitting in rooms somebody else helped build.
I'm worshiping in a church somebody else prayed for.
I'm benefiting from sacrifices somebody else made.
Somebody carried their share.
And now the question becomes:
What are we going to build for the people coming behind us?
God is still calling people.
God is still filling people.
God is still giving wisdom.
God is still giving skill.
God is still giving gifts.
And Jesus is still building His church—and He is still calling, filling and gifting His people to carry their part.
One of the Best Ways to Bless Your Pastor Is to Become Equipped
The prayer says:
“Please help me be a blessing to my pastor.”
Certainly that includes prayer.
Honor.
Encouragement.
Faithfulness.
But Ephesians gives us another answer.
Allow your leaders to equip you.
Instead of:
“Pastor, carry everything.”
Say:
“Pastor, help me grow so I can carry what God has assigned to me.”
Teach me.
Correct me.
Help me develop.
Help me discover where I fit.
Then let me serve.
Moses didn't try to be Bezalel.
Bezalel didn't try to be Moses.
God gave Moses the pattern.
God gave Bezalel the craftsmanship to help build according to that pattern.
Different roles.
Different responsibilities.
Same house.
Same mission.
Same God.
You don't need somebody else's place.
You need to become faithful in yours.
Don't Just Ask God to Make You Useful—Ask Him to Make You Trustworthy
Some of the most important lines in the entire prayer are:
“Please keep me in Your perfect will.”
“Please stop me from ever hurting Your work or Your people.”
“Please help me stay in Your Word and not be distracted.”
Because gifting by itself is not enough.
Bezalel was extraordinarily gifted.
He was Spirit-filled.
He was skilled.
But Scripture says:
“Bezalel… made all that the LORD had commanded Moses.”
Exodus 38:22
His gift remained submitted to God's pattern.
His creativity did not outrank God's Word.
His anointing did not give him permission to become autonomous.
His skill did not give him the right to redefine the assignment.
Gifted people can do tremendous good.
Gifted people without character can also do tremendous damage.
So our prayer cannot simply be:
“God, use me.”
It needs to become:
“GOD, USE ME—AND MAKE ME TRUSTWORTHY.”
Give me character strong enough to carry the gift.
Give me humility strong enough to receive correction.
Give me enough love that I never use people to build my ministry.
Give me enough obedience that my gift stays submitted to Your Word.
Because:
Ability without character is dangerous.
Influence without accountability is dangerous.
Anointing without submission is dangerous.
Giftedness without the Word is dangerous.
So pray:
“Lord, let my gift build people rather than bruise them.”
Don't Quit What God Is Developing in You
Another line says:
“Help me to never quit or fail You.”
I don't hear that as a prayer of terrified perfectionism.
I hear:
“Jesus, keep me faithful.”
When I'm tired, strengthen me.
When I get discouraged, remind me.
When I become distracted, bring me back.
When I stumble, correct me.
When I'm tempted to quit, keep forming me.
Paul writes:
“Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”
Galatians 6:9
Some of your greatest ministry will happen where nobody applauds.
Some of it will be repetitive.
Some of it will be inconvenient.
Some will happen quietly.
Some will never be seen publicly.
But Bezalel reminds us:
Faithfulness matters.
Build Something That Outlives You
This may be one of the things I love most about Bezalel.
His legacy wasn't simply that he was talented.
It wasn't that he was the smartest craftsman.
It wasn't that everybody knew his name.
His legacy was what his gifting produced after it had been surrendered to God.
First, He Obeyed the Pattern
Exodus 38:22 says Bezalel:
“…made all that the LORD had commanded Moses.”
Not some of it.
All of it.
He followed the pattern all the way to completion.
His creativity never became an excuse for disobedience.
His ability never became permission to take shortcuts.
He used everything God put in him to faithfully build what God had asked for.
Second, He Built Something That Outlived Him
Centuries later, Solomon went to Gibeon.
Second Chronicles records:
“Now the bronze altar that Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made… Solomon and the assembly sought Him there.”
2 Chronicles 1:5
Bezalel was gone.
Moses was gone.
The generation that built alongside them was gone.
But something Bezalel had faithfully built was still serving the worship of God's people.
Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings there.
That night, God appeared to Solomon.
Bezalel wasn't there to hear God speak to Solomon.
His name wasn't being celebrated in the streets.
He was long gone.
But his faithfulness had left a legacy that was still holding the fire of God's people generations later.
Solomon was worshiping at something Bezalel's generation had built.
And today, many of us are worshiping in things another generation built.
The question isn't whether we honor what they built.
The question is:
What are we building for the generation coming behind us?
Third, He Put What Was in Him Into Somebody Else
Again, Exodus 35:34 tells us God put in Bezalel:
“…the ability to teach…”
God didn't only give him the ability to do the work.
He also gave him the ability to teach others how to do the work.
His gifting wasn't designed to stop with him.
There was multiplication built into it.
At some point mature ministry stops asking:
“What can I do?”
and begins asking:
“Who can I help become capable of doing this too?”
That can become our legacy too.
Not simply that we served.
Not simply that we were scheduled.
Not simply that we showed up.
But that somebody behind us knows Jesus better, serves more faithfully, leads more effectively, gives more generously, loves people more deeply, or uses their gifts more confidently because we invested something in them.
Discover It. Develop It. Deploy It.
So what do we do with all of this?
Three simple words.
DISCOVER
Ask God:
“What have You placed in me?”
Read Romans 12.
Read 1 Corinthians 12.
Read 1 Peter 4.
Ask mature people who know you:
“Where do you see grace on my life?”
Pay attention to your abilities.
Your burdens.
Your fruit.
DEVELOP
Don't bury something just because it isn't mature yet.
Paul told Timothy:
“Stir up the gift of God…”
2 Timothy 1:6
Learn.
Practice.
Study.
Receive correction.
Get trained.
Become dependable.
Excellence isn't about impressing people.
Excellence is one way we faithfully steward what belongs to God.
DEPLOY
Peter says:
“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another…”
Use it.
Start somewhere.
Serve.
Help somebody.
Don't wait for a title.
Don't wait for a microphone.
Don't wait for perfect conditions.
Don't wait until you've completely figured yourself out.
Many gifts are discovered while serving.
Maybe We Have Been Praying Our Future
I don't say any of this because churches simply need to get more work out of people.
I say it because I want believers to understand what God may already be building in them.
You are not a nameless face helping pull off church services.
You are called by name.
You have been brought into the Kingdom.
God has put gifts in you.
You have something to steward.
You have a ministry.
Maybe that prayer I've seen on the screen so many times has been saying more than I realized.
“Thank You, Jesus, for calling me into Your church, work and ministry.”
I AM CALLED.
“Help me to never quit or fail You.”
JESUS, KEEP ME FAITHFUL.
“Please anoint me to help Your people.”
MY GIFT HAS A PURPOSE.
“Please help me be a blessing to my pastor.”
I WILL STRENGTHEN THE HOUSE RATHER THAN COMPETE FOR POSITION.
“Please allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow through me.”
I NEED MORE THAN NATURAL ABILITY.
“Please let me carry my share of the ministry burden.”
I AM PART OF THE BODY—NOT AN AUDIENCE.
“Please keep me in Your perfect will.”
MY GIFT REMAINS SUBMITTED.
“Please stop me from ever hurting Your work or Your people.”
I WANT TO BE USEFUL AND SAFE.
“Please help me stay in Your Word and not be distracted.”
THE WORD REMAINS MY FOUNDATION.
Maybe this prayer isn't simply something we're supposed to read.
Maybe it describes the kind of church God is calling us to become.
A church where people begin saying:
“God, whatever You have put in me belongs to You.”
“Whoever You have equipped me to help, show me.”
“Whatever I need to develop, teach me.”
“Whatever part of the burden belongs to me, I'll carry it.”
“I don't need somebody else's place.”
“I want to be faithful in mine.”
Healthy ministry isn't one person carrying everything.
It isn't a few gifted people carrying the whole house.
It is:
EVERY JOINT SUPPLYING.
EVERY PART DOING ITS SHARE.
EVERY GIFT SERVING.
EVERY BELIEVER GROWING.
EVERY GENERATION PARTICIPATING.
Jesus is building His church.
And He is still calling people.
Still filling people.
Still giving wisdom.
Still giving skill.
Still giving gifts.
The question is whether we will recognize what He has placed in us and faithfully give it back to Him.
A Prayer
Father, thank You for calling me into Your church, Your work and Your ministry.
Thank You that I am saved by grace and that Jesus has already done the work that gives me my place in Your family.
Thank You that You have not called me to be a spectator.
You have placed me in Your body.
You have given me gifts according to Your grace.
You have prepared good works for me to walk in.
Holy Spirit, show me what You have placed inside me.
Give me wisdom, understanding, knowledge and skill.
Give me courage to use what You've given me.
Give me humility to learn.
Give me faithfulness to develop.
Give me love so that my gifts always serve people rather than myself.
Help me carry my share.
Help me strengthen my pastors and leaders.
Let the gifts of the Spirit flow through me.
Keep me in Your perfect will.
Make me useful.
And make me trustworthy.
Keep me faithful.
Keep me teachable.
Keep me close to You.
Whatever You have put in my hands, I give it back to You.
Use me.
Build Your church.
Bless Your people.
And receive all the glory.
Amen.