Lately, the Lord has been reminding me the importance of teamwork. I’ve learned a lot from my team and each of my teammates. They have encouraged me to seek God, challenged me to stand firm on his promises, and reminded me of who I am in Christ. Each and every girl on my team has a different gift too. Everyday the more I spend time with them the more I am able to watch them use this gift for the kingdom and be inspired by the way they share their faith. Sometimes we think sharing our faith is just evangelism. We put sharing our faith into a little box of expectations of what, when, where, and how God wants to touch people’s lives. Well, at least I used to do that. I used to think there is one way to share your faith, while completely blocking out any possibility that the Creator likes to be creative in the way He advances His kingdom. The way God goes about bringing kingdom is different than what we think mainly because His ways are not our ways. He works in ways that we would never expect and uses our talents and skills in ways we could never imagine. As I’ve been thanking the Lord for my team and each teammate the Lord reminded me that sometimes the best way to share our faith is by simply using the gift that God has given to us.
I wanted to share with you what I’ve learned from each teammate individually, but I wanted to write this blog differently than all of my other blogs. You see I am also creative like the Father and was created to explore different ways in which I can share the Lord’s words and what He puts on my heart. One of the things I always admired about Jesus was his gift of telling stories. Jesus spoke to His people and His disciples through parables most of the time. Parables are short stories that were made to be easy to follow with a lesson to learn at the end. He used parables to in order to visualize what He was talking about and to help better understand what he is trying to teach us. Today I wanted to follow in Jesus’ example and write a fictional “parable” about lessons that I’ve learned from my teammates.
The King’s Good Gift’s and the Kingdom
A long time ago, there were seven girls. Each girl was once an orphan, but she was then adopted by a great king in a country far away. The king loved them the moment he saw them and he called them his own. They too loved the king. Every day each girl would spend time with the king. They would talk, laugh, cry, or even pour their hearts out to him. Each day the king delighted in the presence of his princesses. Even though they were once orphans and had little, the king didn’t see them as such. He saw them as his daughters and his princesses. The king gave them everything he owned because they were now his and inherited the whole palace.
One day the king got a letter from a providence of his kingdom. It was a distant land, but it still belonged to the king. The letter described how the kings people were being oppressed, driven out of their homes, killed, treated unjustly, hurt, and unloved. A man named Ludicus and his army was the one to blame for all this chaos. Lucius’ plan was to slowly destroy the whole kingdom by eliminating each providence one by one. Ludicus decided the best way to do so was to oppress, hurt, and kill the king’s people since he knew how much the king loved them. The king’s heart ached for his people at the news of the letter. He wept for them all night long. For he knew these people by name and loved them so dearly.
The next morning the king made a decision. He decided to send out his daughters like lamb among wolves to save the oppressed, fight for the unjust, love the unloved, protect the weak, and bring his people to his palace. Once the kings people arrived at the palace they could live in peace and be loved, protected, and cherished for the rest of their days. The princesses, knowing the king’s heart and sharing his grief, agreed to find the king’s people and fight the battle against Ludicus. Before the princesses left, the king promised a treasure would be stored in his kingdom for each one of them. He kissed them on the cheek and gave them each a gift.
On their journey they discovered the power of the gifts that their father had given them. They realized that it’s not always about having an expectation to fight the battle the ‘right’ way. Instead, the way to fight the best and bring the kingdom back to the palace was to simply use their gifts. They couldn’t do it alone either; they needed each other. Each gift relied off of the next in order to be used to it’s fullest capacity and unlock the strength of it’s power.
One princess received a pocket watch from the king. It was a little gold pocket watch with a golden chain and little intricate wooden black arms revolving around in a circle. Ingrained on the front golden lid of the pocket watch was the words “Patient One”. The king always reminded this princess that she was indeed one of patience and was created to walk out in that gift. The pocket watch had the power to stop time and prolong Ludicus’ army from advancing. The pocket watch only had enough magic to stop time for a little while. Anyone who was with the princess as she held it in her hand wasn’t frozen in time. Giving her sisters and the providence a chance to escape while Ludicus and his army were stuck in time. Although, it could never be permanent. But the princess was wise and stewarded her gift well. She knew when to stop time and how to use the power that the king had given her correctly. Because of her wisdom and her gift she was able to provide safety and a way out for the king’s people at every providence that the princesses visited.
Another princess received a sword and a shield. It was especially hand carved by the king just for her. Inscribed on the handle of the sword was the words, “Radiant Leader”. And this princess was; she was a radiant leader. She was able to lead the seven princesses through the deserts, mountains, forests, and all the changes and hardships that they had to endure. The Radiant princess lead with such strength and boldness because she was fearless. She used her sword, her gift, to be the radiant leader she was meant to be, protect others including her sisters, save the oppressed, and step out into the uncomfortable or scary situations that no one would dare to step out into. She would even volunteer to walk through the dark endangered forests, take an arrow for her sister or anyone else in the kingdom, and fearlessly fight Ludicus’ army on the front line. She also was given a hand carved shield along with the sword. The shield was the gift of honesty. Every battle she would take the sword of leadership and the shield of honesty and fight with them in order to protect the kingdom and lead the king’s people. She could not go into battle without the other and could not succeed without both gifts working together to bring freedom for the kingdom. She was a mighty warrior and the king’s most radiant, bravest, and honest leader of all.
The other princess was given a scroll. This princess was fascinated with the wise words of the king. Every morning her whole life she would take walks with the king in his garden. She would ask him questions, listen, and record the king’s powerful words of wisdom. Before she left the king gave her a scroll with his words on them. He whispered in her ear as the princesses were about to embark on their journey. He said, “My dearest daughter, this scroll holds great power. In this scroll I’ve written down my wise words. These words will help you in every situation. When you read them out loud to my people then something magical will occur; the dead will come to life, the hopeless will gain hope, the chained will be freed, and hurt will be mended. My words, my dear daughter, have power and magic. When you say what I wrote in this scroll into the light it will provide life and healing”. As the princess held tightly to the scroll she remembered her father’s words. She looked down at the scroll in her hand that had a red ribbon tied around it. The red ribbon had the words, “Wise Counsel” embroidered in the finest burgandy silk thread on it. That’s who she was. This princess was the wise counsel and the one that would bring freedom, hope, and life. That’s exactly what the princess did. She didn’t go around fighting the battle on the front line like the “radiant leader”, but she went around from house to house proclaiming the wise words of the king to others. She proclaimed the words out loud wherever she went and wherever she went the people would listen to her words and do what the king wrote. Wherever she went the princess provided encouragement, hope, freedom, and life, just like the king said she would.
The king gifted his other daughter a beautiful velvet sack with gold tassels that sparkled in the sun. Tied around the tassels on a little gold pallet wrote, “The Giver”. The king always valued this princess so much and reminded her that she was indeed a giver. What was special about the little velvet sack was not it’s looks, but what was on the inside. The inside was lined with the king’s magic and power. This princess had a heart to give and serve other people well just like the king. The king knew that too and delighted in her giving heart. He gave the sack the power to produce whatever was on the princesses heart in order to help the kings people. Day after day the princess would close her bright eyes and wish something on her heart to give to the kings people. She wishes food for the hungry, safety for the oppressed, peace over the camp during night time so that Ludicus and his army wouldn’t attack them, and necessities for the poor. She would give to the kings people whole heartedly and gave them good gifts to survive. What ever the princess wished for on her heart when she held onto the tassels would appear in the sack. It wouldn’t just provide whatever was on the princesses heart, but it would provide the best of the best. If it was food she wished for in her heart the best food in all the kingdom would be at the bottom of the sack. If it was necessities that she wishes for in her heart for the poor than it would be utensils and materials made out of gold would be at the bottom of the sack.
Another princess was given a little glass bottle that held tears in it. On the top of the cap in the king’s handwriting wrote, “Kind-Hearted”. The king called this princess kind-hearted. Every time the king’s heart ached so did the princess. She was able to see, understand, and feel what her father felt and shared that deep love for the kings people. So, the king gave her the special gift of the little glass bottle that held tears. At the end of the day of every day the tears would turn to medicine; an everlasting medicine that will heal every pain, hurt, disease, or illness. In every providence that the princesses went into this princess would go from house to house with her other sister and love the kings people well. Every time one of the kings people shed a tear she would collect it in her bottle. At the end of the night she would place a drop of medicine from her bottle on the lips of the ill, hurt, or ones with diseases and they would instantly be healed. She even would place a drop of medicine on those who sacrificed their lives in the kings army and they would come back to life. This princess would work both with the kings people and with the kings army providing healing from the deep love that she had in her heart. Therefore making the kings people and the kings army stronger that it has ever been.
Another princess was given a subtle, but powerful gift. The king decided to give her not a tangible material, but to give her a twinkle in her eye. It would be a gift that she nor anyone else would realize until they actually looked into her eyes. It was a subtle, but powerful gift that drew people to her. Her eyes were so tender, soft, and loving just like the kings. They were so beautiful in fact that others felt like they were in the kings presence by simply looking into her eyes. All the king’s people from every providence was drawn to her, sought after her presence, and valued their relationship with her. This princess would then be able to build close relationships with the kings people; relationships that were strong, built in love, and everlasting. As her eyes sparkled, the kings people would be reassured that she could be trusted and that she would never turn a blind eye to the kings people for as long as she lived. The kings people trusted her so much in fact that they would do what she says and follow in her footsteps because of the light that was within her eyes. The king told her that she was a “Loyal Friend” both to her sisters and the kings people. Everyone valued her opinion, her words, and their friendship with her.
Lastly, the other princess was also given a subtle, but imparative gift. The king gave her the gift to be able to speak any language and understand any tongue. The king proclaimed over her long ago that she was indeed “The Listener”. In the palace, she too would spend her days listening, memorizing, and clinging onto the king’s words as they strolled through his garden. She had the ears to hear what was on her father’s heart as well as the love to act upon what she heard in order to save the king’s people from Ludicus’ grasp. She would listen to the heart needs of everyone in the kingdom including her sisters. It wasn’t easy either, for each providence spoke a different language. With the use of her gift she was able to build the bridge of connection with the king’s people in order to love, hear, translate, and understand them well. This little princess was also unashamed to proclaim the words of the king that he had written on her sister’s scroll. For she fully believed and trusted in the true words of her father. All day she would use her voice to stand up for those who didn’t have one and when she spoke her words were fully of power and strength. She was simply the voice of the people; a representative that could faithfully stand on their behalf.
Many years passed and the princesses continued to fight the good fight. Together they would defeat Ludicus and his army. As they went they freed, healed, and loved the king’s people. The princesses all worked together and used their gifts to build each other up and affectively succeed in the king’s plan. All of the princesses were needed in order to bring redemption, the king’s people back to him, and defeat Ludicus. No gift was to small or more important than the next. Instead, to the king, all the gifts were special and needed. All the while, the king sat in his kingdom day by day and looked out his window towards the horizon. He would close his eyes and smile his sweet warm smile. For he was there with them the whole time in spirit and saw everything the princesses did. Everything that they did pleased him. It would be only a short while until the princesses and all of the king’s people would return to the palace. With each and every day that passed they were closer to winning the battle and returning home. Soon enough the princesses, the king’s people, and the king’s army, would return home to the palace for good where they would be forever safe with the king.
The End
