Giving It Your All
By Billie Goon
When I initially sat down to draft my first blog to be included in Words of Grace, I told myself that despite never doing this before, I was going to jump right in and give it my all. I had committed the time to do proper prep work around my chosen topic, and I had all my study materials readily available. My little ones were at daycare, and my husband was at work. It was a quiet, Friday morning in my little home. In this wild season of parenting, that was a rare jewel to be treasured. How difficult could it be to write something uplifting for a congregation of like-minded people with whom I worship every Sunday?
Well, as it turns out, it was a bit harder than I had anticipated. After writing, reviewing and editing by myself and others, I realized that my initial draft didn’t quite have the focus and clarity I had intended. How did that happen? I had been so determined to give my fullest attention and heart to this piece, and yet somehow I still missed the mark. The entire situation gave me pause.
I had written copy for social media, online and print publications plenty of times before. I had shared my faith and God’s goodness with others in the ups and downs of my daily life. Now I felt that what I had to give wasn’t nearly enough.
Many times in life, we’re made to feel that giving it our all isn’t quite enough; there’s always more that can be asked of us. We’re inevitably challenged, even expected, to give everything we’ve got to whatever it is we’re doing. We give of our time – to our family, our jobs, hobbies, friends. We give of our talents – again to our family and careers, and also to people and things we share a passion for or with. We give of our treasure – the obvious item being money, to provide for our families and give back to the Lord what He bestows on us, as well as those particular giftings that are specific to each of us. To give is a blessing, something to be enjoyed.
This wasn’t feeling like a blessing though. It felt more like I was giving it my all, but was coming up short. Had I squandered my time and not been a good steward of the gifts that had been given to me? At that moment, I sat back and it hit me like a ton of bricks as to why I was writing and who I was writing for. By giving of myself – my time and talents, specifically – and trusting God with them, I could let go of what I was trying to do on my own. I could surrender this blog post to Him so that He would get the glory. I realized that what I had to say was coming from Him and would, prayerfully, point others to Him.
Once I gave this project fully to the Lord, He gently reminded me that, among other things, He’s got it covered. In Proverbs 16:3, we see these words – “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” And from Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Here I was, committing this written piece of work to the Lord. Now, what plan is being established through the words that I’m pouring out? What could I possibly share that would connect to each of the readers that found their way to my corner of the blogosphere?
First and foremost, we go through our walk each day as believers and we acknowledge the incredible, eternal gift that we have been given in Christ Jesus. Second, in receiving that precious gift of salvation, we in turn are called to give of ourselves that God will be glorified in all things. And lastly, by giving our all, pouring ourselves out for the Kingdom of God, we are being the good and faithful stewards that He has called us to be.
As we have been given, so then should we GIVE. And not just a little bit of our time, some of our talents, or maybe just a smidgen of our treasure. Why not give our ALL to the One who supplies everything to us?
When we give our all and surrender all that we have to Christ, how joyous and peacefully can we rest in our Savior’s arms? When we give our minds and bodies up to the glory of God, we can understand true freedom and purpose. We can step confidently into the spiritual gifts that we have been given as followers of Christ and know that he will use these gifts for his purposes.
Writing this first blog has been a journey. From frustration, feeling stuck and “less than” – which I’m sure some folks reading can relate to – to a reenergized feeling of freedom in giving all that I’ve got in different endeavors of life. Will we give it all we’ve got perfectly, every time, in every situation? No, of course not. However, that does not mean that we should ever give up.