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Shepherd Daily Devotional – Giving God Back

Written By Ben Dankaka

Meditation – Psalm 25:4-5

Some years ago when I was going through some setbacks in my business, I closed from work, one day, feeling terribly bad because I couldn’t figure out why I was failing. On my way home, I got some biscuits for my two kids. As soon as I entered the house, they both welcomed me and immediately snatched the biscuits. But as I was about to relax on the couch, my daughter – the younger one, gave me back the biscuits and asked me to open it for her. I quickly did. Meanwhile, I noticed my older child still struggling to open his own biscuits. When he suddenly realized his younger sister had begun to eat hers, he hurried back to me and cried out, “Daddy, help me!” I laughed and opened his biscuits.

But as I sat down, it dawned on me that I had been acting like my son. Just as I gave my son a gift, God had given me a gift. Like my son did, I got my gift from God but decided to use it without His help. In other words, I was trying to run my business without God’s support. I realized that I should have acted like my little girl who gave me back the gift I gave her, so I could help her unwrap it. And like my son eventually did, I decided to return to God and ask Him to help me make use of the very gift he had given me. That revelation was a major turning point in my career.

Many of us think God isn’t interested in our careers. We think we can do everything without His guidance. We fail to realize that God is also a teacher, who wants to teach and show us how to make the best use of the gifts He has given us. We can depend on Him because He knows everything. Why shouldn’t He know everything when He is the one who created everything? David knew this when he cried out, “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths;”. God’s way may be different from the path you are taking right now.

But when you go to Him for help, God will show you how to follow His path with the gift He has given you. Perhaps, you are going through challenges while working on your gift. I want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with your natural gift. But you may be using it along the wrong path. It’s never too late to go back to God and ask for help. If I didn’t condemn my kid for thinking he could open his biscuits without my help, God, who is holier than any man wouldn’t condemn you also. Instead, He would gladly show you the right way to go.

Prayer: Lord, show me your ways. Amen.

REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Psalm 25:4-5

Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.