FINDING YOUR MINISTRY NICHE
--By Sondra McCauley

I often hear people say that, since they are not called to five-fold ministry, they have no idea as to what their gifts and callings are in the Lord. I've often wondered about this. When I hear such statements, I'm always reminded of a teaching that I once heard on the radio where the minister stated that our gifts and callings will always fall along the lines of those things that we individually gravitate to "like a duck takes to water." I meditated on it, prayed about it, and found it to be true. The minister was referring to those areas or tendencies that "pop out" in our personal or professional lives, regardless of whether we use them in church service or not. Think about it-do you find yourself given to singing or cooking, cleaning or dancing, acting or organizing? Do you like to write or create? Got a natural gift of gab or narration? A zeal for knowledge? An aptness to teach? A love for children? Always willing to lend a helping hand or a compassionate ear?

The list goes on and on. These are the talents, interests, and inclinations that God places in each of us from birth-even before we are born again. They often fall along the lines of the seven motivational gifts of prophecy, service, teaching, exhorting, giving, administration, and mercy found in Romans 12:6-8. True, God may build up or down-play such gifts and talents as you are renewed in His Spirit, adding to them as He will from among the manifestional or ministerial Gifts of the Spirit found in I Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, respectively. He may also adjust the expression of the gifts and talents according to the seasons or circumstances of your life. But the essence of who you are as a person will remain. It is often along these lines that He will want to use you in His service.

Me, I have always been given to music and administration, among other things. Looking back, I can recall such leanings in my life even before I consciously believed in God. Take music for example. (We won't talk about administration-how many of you used to play library?) I've always loved to sing-belting out Barbra Streisand show tunes in my East Baltimore neighborhood or spending weekends humming along and tapping out the rhythms to local jazz club crooning. I can still hear my older sister saying: "Mama, make her shut up! There she goes with her lips wrapped around her face again!" (I can still hear it because she's still saying it!) But now I sing for the Lord. And I won't stop singing until He tells me to.

So, what's your niche? What are the things that you naturally take to like a duck in water? I'm sure that you've noticed them in yourself and in others. Think on them, pray on them, and give them back to God. He's got a purpose for everything. I'm certain that He has a purpose for what makes you, you.