Life is funny that way

So after I blogged the other day about how God is teaching me to embrace my own writing style, I received this daily devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries reminding me that God gives unique gifts to each person and that we should embrace our gifts. The post centered around this verse

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

Isn't it funny how God works? Sometimes we hear a gentle whisper through the storm prodding us to trust and follow Him, and other times He uses clanging symbols to send a message to jump start our hearts and reverberate through our souls. I find that I am continually amazed and thankful by his love for me.

I've been thinking a lot about strengths lately. I guess because I am still trying to pinpoint mine. It's always been easier to identify where I fall short, but I'm beginning to realize that life is better if we pinpoint our strengths and build upon them. To that end, I took the StrengthsFinder quiz. Here are the strengths it identified for me. Do you think they're accurate?

• Learner: People who are especially talented in the Learner theme have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve. In particular, the process of learning, rather than the outcome, excites them. 

Without a doubt, your hunger for evidence, data, or background information is immense. Whether your sources of knowledge are people, classes, books, the Internet, or discussions, you are hardwired to be as informed as you possibly can be prior to starting most ventures. You probably prefer to be overly prepared rather than risk being poorly prepared. Chances are good that you yearn to increase your knowledge by being kept in the information loop.

• Input: People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information. 

Chances are good that you are delighted to read more about topics with which you are already familiar. Accumulating additional information about these issues and subjects makes more sense to you than venturing off into areas about which you know very little.

• Intellection:  People who are especially talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions. 

You regularly reflect on how you felt about your experiences as they occurred. You usually ponder how you felt afterward, too. Your emotional awareness sharpens your thinking. You are doubly blessed: You think with your head and feel with your heart.

• Empathy:  People who are especially talented in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others’ lives or others’ situations

By nature, you might work persistently to lift people’s spirits. Perhaps you naturally see the good in individuals or situations. Maybe this approach allows you to embrace rather than resist life’s surprises, disappointments, opportunities, or successes. Chances are good that you recognize when your coworkers can benefit from your approval and compliments. You spontaneously sense a person’s need to hear kind, encouraging, or supportive words from a colleague. You enjoy celebrating the contributions, strengths, discoveries, or victories of individuals.

• Connectedness: People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Because of your strengths, you may get to know people individually in your quest to gain wisdom. Discovering the qualities that distinguish someone from everyone else might be an essential aspect of your search for truth. Instinctively, you occasionally help people realize they are part of the human family. With your guidance, perhaps they understand that their lives are intertwined with people they will never meet.

I feel like they're pretty accurate. So, the next time I start to doubt my own abilities and begin to compare myself with others (and lament that I fall short), remind me of this verse and smack me upside the head. :)

1 Corinthians 12:4-6, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.”