Every year a state of panic sets in among church staff and ministry leaders as they are tasked with recruiting people to fill positions in ministry for the next year. Many volunteer to serve, but there are times we can’t find anyone to serve in an area of need. Or the person serving isn’t the right fit for the position.

God wants us to serve, but He doesn’t want us to be miserable and burned out. He wants us to find joy in serving, not to serve out of obligation and become negative and bitter as a result.

So, what holds people back from serving in the church? Some possible reasons are:

• They want to, but they don’t know where to serve.
• They’ve served in an area for a long time and they’re burned out.
• They’ve served in an area that was not a good fit for them, and they don’t want to put themselves through that again.

Those are valid reasons. Before we can find joy in our service, we need to determine how God has gifted us and where those spiritual gifts are the best fit.

Here are some suggestions to help you discover and develop your spiritual gifts.

• What do you enjoy doing?
• Try different things to see if they’re a good fit – short term. Evaluate your effectiveness.
• Ask those who know you well what they think your spiritual gifts are.
• Take a spiritual gift assessment. Churchgrowth.org offers a good one. However, assessments alone are not the best method. Use all of these suggestions to guide you in determining where you are gifted.
• Know your overall SHAPE.

When you’re serving in an area that uses your spiritual gifts, you’ll find yourself energized. When you’re serving in an area that doesn’t, you’ll find yourself restless and increasingly drained.

Peter gives great insight concerning our service in 1 Peter 4:10 – “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. What has helped you find your area of giftedness?