It was just okay . . . a bit odd. Why weren’t there two of them? It didn’t match anything in my kitchen. I smiled and picked up the weird little oven mitt and said, thank you. For the past 7 years, I’ve been burning my hands by using this thin little mitt. So mainly, I just left it in the drawer and ignored it. I mean, after all…its blue…and checkered…and well, a little bit of an eyesore. Once in awhile when my mom is in town, I will get it out and use it. After all, she gave it to me and I don’t mean to be ungrateful. I just know there are other pot holders or oven mitts that would have suited my taste better. You know; something that doesn’t lead to injuries and maybe a little more contemporary or classic—but not that dreaded country kitchen “little house on the prairie” look. I’ve thought about pitching it a few times. I started to put it in a neighborhood garage sale two years ago only to be convinced to bring it back in the house when one of my children asked me if that wasn’t “the stocking stuffer from grandma.” Once again, I shoved it in the back of the drawer with all my other random and neglected kitchen items.

I didn’t think about it much, that goofy little pot holder. I guess I just took it for granted. I wasn’t very thankful for it. I barely acknowledged receiving it in the first place. But then, last summer, my folks came to visit. So of course, I took it out and set it on the table to hold a hot dish. That’s when my mom asked me why I’ve never used it for what it was intended. To which I replied, “But I do”. She responded by asking, “When?” I said, “Well…now for example.” My mom giggled a little and walked over to the potato bin, picked up a potato opened the end of the little blue checkered pot holder/over mitt, put the potato inside and put it in the microwave for 6 minutes.

As she smiled and sat back down it became so obvious to me that the weird little oven mitt had an actual function and purpose. It was created to bake potatoes. I was trying to turn it into something other than it was made to be.

I wonder how many of us feel like we’re stuffed in the back of a spiritual drawer? How many of us have simply settled for a lesser role than that which we were created to fill? I realize that there was a time in my life when I didn’t even seek to find out what God had created me to do. I simply existed in my own little plan and in my own little comfort zone. He tells us clearly in His Word, however, that we’re made with a purpose. That we are made in HIS image. We’re called to serve. We’re each given gifts to use for HIS glory. We’re called to tell people about the good news of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).

Each of us, as believers in Jesus, has been created to serve the body of Christ. If you have the gift of teaching and sit in the back of a room and never teach—you’re stuck in the back of the drawer.

If you’ve been called to use your singing voice to glorify God and only sing to yourself in the car—you’ve been shoving yourself toward the back of the drawer. If you have the ability to give financially to serve the body of Christ or to help a neighbor and yet you keep your money for yourself or for a rainy day—you’re stuck in the drawer? Get out of the spiritual drawer and serve—meet a need, share a meal, pay a bill, encourage someone.

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully (Romans 12:4-8).

Are you fulfilling the purpose that God created you to fulfill?  Don’t miss your chance to bless others and to be blessed by the creator. Get out of the drawer!

—submitted by Kathy Lonsinger, Speaker and Founder A Gentle Answer Ministries