Judging by his paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, as well as by his sculpting of The Pieta, I would have to say that Michelangelo was utilizing a gift of prophecy; for certainly, the things of God were proclaimed therein.
And, with that intro, I hope you will try to set aside, for just a moment, the more traditional ministries with which we have seen the "gifts" utilized in the church through the past centuries, and begin to see ministry as just any available outlet that God grants to each of us individually, with which to reveal more of Himself, and of Jesus Christ, to others. Maybe then we will be more apt to be "led" of God, rather than "driven" by the particular gifts or by tradition.
So, with this in mind and focusing on women foremost, see if you can determine what ministry opportunities and gifts could be utilized in the following non-traditional type ministry activities (I'll give you the first one and I'll give you an extra clue - each item has more than one answer):
-Babysitting (serving – perhaps the parents can listen to the teachings or sermons without distraction, thereby growing spiritually because you chose to babysit their children during church or perhaps, you are babysitting to allow them to utilize their gifts in service at a soup kitchen; mercy – especially if you are -babysitting for a single mom perhaps as she goes off to work, knowing that her children are in good Christian hands; pastoring/teaching - depending on the age of the children and your continued involvement with them, you can be used to help develop them spiritually.)
-Writing;
-Helping a child with homework;
-Music;
-Cooking;
-Housekeeping;
-Sewing;
-Visiting a neighbor;
-Blogging (my personal favorite!)
Do you see how God can use your gifts in even non-traditional areas of ministry? Once you have grasped that, then it is easy to step into the ministry that the Lord is calling you to, whether it be traditional OR non-traditional. (There is nothing wrong with traditional ministries as long as they are "biblical" as well as traditional.)
For a list of the traditional ministries for women in the church, it's best to check with your church. If you think you have a gift in a certain area, but still aren't sure, there's nothing wrong with giving a short-term commitment to a ministry, to confirm the matter. Especially if that ministry has others involved in it from whom you can learn how best to exercise your gift. Just make sure your church is OK with giving short-term commitments, say of three months or so. Let them know that at the end of three months, you will want to evaluate and then make a decision whether to stay in that ministry or leave it, and that you will want to be free to do that when the time comes. Surely they will agree to that. It's better than not committing at all just because of uncertainty.
Do you also see how you can be used in more gifts than one? This doesn't take away from a primary gifting in which you might devote most of your time, but even then, we have to be careful to not let the activity of that primary gifting keep us from heeding God's call to minister in other areas momentarily.
Paul is an excellent example of one who was used in many gifts:
-preacher (herald or proclaimer of the divine word, God's ambassador), apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles (1 Timothy 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:11);
-performed miracles and healings (Acts 19:11-12);
-was a prophet and evangelist (Eph 3:1-13);and spoke in tongues (1 Cor. 14:18).
He was a non-stop traveling missionary evangelist (one or two-years at most in any one place) who would, I think, agree with another missionary, C.T. Studd, who wrote a poem that clearly describes the mind-set of most missionaries or evangelists:
"Some want to live within the sound
of church or chapel bell.
I want to run a rescue ship
within a yard of hell."
Tomorrow, we'll look at how God "reveals" Himself through us to one another and to non-believers as well.
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