What is something with which you have been entrusted? It may be watering the neighbor’s plants while they are on vacation, your position at work, the care of a grandchild, or a friend’s deepest secrets. While living up to the trust placed in you is always important, the most valuable things we have the privilege of stewarding are not things at all, but people: their hearts, their minds, their well-being.
I’ve been reading through Paul’s letters, and today’s reading was from Ephesians 3. The second verse gave me pause.
-if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace, which was given to me for you. Ephesians 3:2NASB
If you have spent anytime in church you have almost certainly heard the Word calling. It is the belief of Christians that each of us have a calling. Some are called to teach, to serve, to pastor, to encourage and so on. However, today it struck me as I read the preceding verse, when God calls us in whatever way He calls us He entrusts us with grace for those to whom we are called. However, that grace doesn’t come naturally, and as such, it needs to be stewarded.
According to Merriam-Webster, stewardship is “The conducting, supervising, or managing of something especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”
No matter where we are called, in healthcare, as a schoolteacher, in retail, or in a church God has given us the opportunity (the calling) to steward His grace for those we serve.
So, how do we do this? I have found that when I begin to think it is all on me, my focus has shifted from God’s limitless grace for those I serve, to my limited grace for them. This kind of thinking zaps my energy, squelches my passion, and stifles my attitude. However, when I rest in the fact that I am not responsible to make anything happen, but rather simply called to steward that which God has entrusted to me, I am filled with the energy, grace, and passion that can only flow from God.
To whom do you feel called and what are you doing to steward God’s grace for them? These are questions worth asking both for well-being and for the well-being of those to whom you are called.
