Are You a Window Shopper?

Today's blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10)

I definitely tend to be a window shopper, especially when it comes to big ticket items.  I can be a bit frugal and reluctant to make those large purchases.  I will see something and think about how nice it would be to own it, but then I talk myself out of it.

The conversation with myself will go something like this – “Wow that sure is nice.  I would love to have it, but it’s a little bit extravagant for my budget.  Will I be able to afford it?  Do I really need it?”  I rationalize “maybe someday, but not right now” and I walk away.

I wonder how many of those moments I was really walking away from a blessing God desired to give me.  I have a feeling I will get to heaven and have the ability to look back on my life and see too many of those occurrences when I let an opportunity to receive God’s blessing pass me by.

We also often resort to window shopping when it comes to being used by God.  God created us to do good works and He equips us with spiritual gifts and abilities to carry them out, but we talk ourselves out of allowing God to use us.

Instead of looking to an unlimited God, we look at our limitations and say “I’m not good enough, or spiritual enough, or knowledgeable enough for God to use me like that.” We ask ourselves “What if I fail?” or “What if God doesn’t show up?” and we walk away from a situation where God desired to demonstrate His love and power through us.

Let’s not live with any regrets.  Let’s not get to heaven only to see missed opportunities where we resorted to window shopping because we were unwilling to let God use us in a way that was outside our comfort zone.

When it comes to God using you, don’t just peer through the window of possibilities.  Go in and try those gifts on!