On Gifts: Tools for a Life Lived on Mission

By Lindsey Falls

Sophia is the Greek word for Wisdom, and Propel Sophia seeks out the voices of truly wise women and asks them to share worked examples of how they express faith in daily life. Pull up a chair at Sophia’s table, won’t you? There’s plenty of space. Learn more here.

As a follower of Jesus for 16 years, I have always believed that I should actively evangelize. However, until about two years ago, I shared the Gospel embarrassingly infrequently.  The few times I did share, I was ridiculously ineffective. In fact, my infrequent and ineffective efforts created a negative vicious cycle: I’d try to engage in conversation, in hopes of sharing about Jesus, but it was painfully awkward and I wasn’t getting anywhere, so I’d hold back from doing it again to avoid the awkwardness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a friendly person and pretty easy to talk to, so I didn’t understand how I was so ineffective, so many times, and leading so few—if any—people to Christ, after over a decade of following Jesus. I believed I would bomb a spiritual conversation more than I believed the Holy Spirit would work through me. I know that I am responsible for being obedient, and the Holy Spirit is the one that grows the fruit, but I was discontent with the little fruit I was seeing. I knew Jesus had more for me than bi-annual, extremely awkward conversations. He wanted me to be a fruitful, effective, life-changer. I am called to “live on mission”, as the phrase goes, sharing the gospel not because I have to, but because I get to tell of what God has done for me The question was: why was I so bad at this?

The more I studied Jesus’s life to see how He drew people to himself, the more I couldn’t get away from the fact that He had way more tools than I did, and He constantly knew when and how to wield them, for the purpose of fulfilling His mission of bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth. He was constantly in tune with His Father’s heart for people. For the blind, lame, and sick, He demonstrated His healing power. To the woman at the well, He disclosed personal details that the Spirit had revealed to Him (John 4:17-18). He discerned when demonic spirits were at work in people, and had the authority to cast them out (Matthew 8:28-34). For the hungry, He multiplied a few fish and loaves of bread so that all could eat (Matthew 14:13-21). Perhaps most outrageously, He told us that by His power and authority (Luke 10:19, Matthew 10:1,5-8), we would do even greater things than He did, so the Father could be glorified (John 14:12-13).

And these tools Jesus had to minister to people? The supernatural ability to know personal details, heal the sick, discern spirits and cast them out, perform miracles, and prophecy? They’re called spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-11). They are available to all believers, and we’re told to earnestly desire them (1 Corinthians 14:1), not for us to feel special or talented, but for us to do the work God has called us to do as His co-laborers in the Kingdom, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

With a fresh awareness of these “tools”, I set out to begin living on mission. I prayed for them and believed that the Holy Spirit would move through me and apportion these gifts for the glory of the Father. I refused the lies that I would mess this up. And God was faithful: as I did these things, He started giving me some traction, and I saw the Holy Spirit work in people’s lives through me.

In one instance, I was getting a bridesmaid’s dress tailored, and the seamstress and I got chatting. She began sharing some burdens in her life with me. She talked about how she recently moved across the country and had also lost her mother to cancer shortly afterward. How the father of her two toddlers walked out on her, leaving her with the burden of being a single, working mom. Immediately, my heart was filled with compassion as the Holy Spirit started revealing God’s perspective on her situation and His heart for her. Right then and there—half-pinned in a dressing room—words of comfort, encouragement and strengthening started coming from my mouth, tailored for her, revealed to me by the Holy Spirit. Tears began welling up in her eyes, as though I had just spoken the secret hopes of her heart out loud for the first time. I got to tell her how much the Father’s heart broke for her. I got to weep with her. I shared the hope of redemption made available to her by Jesus. With tailoring pins in hand, she encountered the love of God right there in that dressing room. She asked me more about Jesus. We prayed together. She felt her burden ease, knowing that God sees her and is devoted to helping her.

While it’s possible to live without acknowledging the gifts God has given to us, why would we want to? Jesus explained that He left the Holy Spirit with us to empower us.  He left us with a great commission—to live on mission—and did not leave us alone or without tools to get that work done. If we ask for wisdom, He gives it generously (James 1:3-6). And if we ask Him for the Holy Spirit, how much more will our Father give good gifts to His children? God showed Himself faithful in the dressing room that day: His promised power far outweighs my potential for failure. He’s ready and willing; all I needed to do was ask.

Lindsey Falls

Lindsey Falls is a wife and mom three young boys. She loves sharing Jesus at any and every occasion: over a coffee, on a stage, through her blog, or with her kids at bedtime. She's passionate about God's Word, being supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit, walking victoriously in Jesus, and living on mission. She's grateful to serve at her local church in Austin, Texas. You can find her writing on her blog, or on Instagram.