I’ve always been deeply moved by a story in the Bible of a relatively obscure person.  She is not someone we hear much about, but what is revealed about her shows the enormous impact she left on others throughout her life.  By now you might be wondering what this woman did.  The simple truth is that she used her gifts to serve others and I hope to encourage you to use your gifts to serve others too!

Acts 9:36-42 “In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!”

Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.

Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord.”

SERVING OTHERS WITH OUR GIFTS IS LOVE IN ACTION

I will never forget hearing this story for the first time at Sunday School and how deeply moved I was.  I very much wanted to be like this precious woman of God.  

We read in 1 Peter 4:10 that “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”  

Always remember that God has given each one of His children gifts. We need to use these gifts to serve and bless those around us.  Each day we need to get up and offer our gifts to our God. We need to ask Him and trust Him to open doors for us to use these gifts to bless others.  Dorcas in this story used her gifts to care for the widows. In the same say we too need to be faithfully using our gifts every day to touch people’s lives. 

We may feel that what we are doing is small or trivial. However, look at the impact Dorcas had on the lives of the widows she was helping.  What she did seemed so simple. However, her impact on their lives was immense. As a result, they asked Peter to pray that she would be raised back to life. And she was indeed raised back to life!

And never forget that God takes us in our imperfection and brokenness and uses our lives and gifts in powerful ways. This remains true even when we cannot see the fruits of our labour.  Our job is to remain faithful in using our gifts to serve others.

Our God is powerful and will bring an awesome harvest if we remain faithful in using our gifts to serve others!