The Power of Subtle
No two people are the same even if they are from the same family, town or background. Though we might have similar gifts, talents and passions, we express those things differently and in a way that no one else can.
I have a friend who is wonderfully prophetic. It’s amazing how she clearly hears the Holy Spirit speak and will quickly follow His leading. When He speaks, she will speak up and when He moves, she’s right there going with Him. One day, she and I were praying with a group of friends and the Holy Spirit saturated that room. It was such a precious moment. My friend was fully yielded and operating in her gifts, leading this prayer session with excitement and vitality.
What I didn’t tell my friend was that hours after that time together, I began wondering about my own gifts. I knew that I heard the Lord’s voice and that He often spoke to me about people, but I didn’t understand why a moment like we had together couldn’t be led by me. But He was and is patient and kind to me in my questioning, comparison and even jealousy.
A few days later, we were in the middle of a church service where we had a moment of prayer and listening to God. The band was playing on the stage and people were worshiping—it was truly beautiful. And God began to speak to me. He gave me a word for the girl next to me who I didn’t know. I prayed for her, told her what the Holy Spirit had whispered to me, and went back to worship. Then He told me to go speak to a friend who was way up in the front of the sanctuary.
As I was making my way back to my seat, the Lord reminded me of something: my friend and I have similar gifts that are expressed differently because of our personalities.
My friend is excitable, loud and you know when she walks into a room. So, when the Lord speaks to her, she shares clearly, loudly and overtly. I am introverted and tend to take a backseat until I know it’s my time to speak. So, when the Lord speaks to me, I share selectively and covertly.
The realization that our personalities affect how our gifts are expressed helped take some of the pressure off of me. I didn’t need to make myself into someone else in order for me to be “prophetic”, I can be a prophetic introvert. My friend’s impact isn’t any better or worse than mine, it’s just different. Because our gifts express themselves differently, there may be some who I can connect with and she can’t and vice versa.
When we think of the word “impact” it’s easy to get lost in thinking of those who are speaking to thousands or millions every week. It’s so tempting to look at that social media influencer and think their impact is great in the lives of their millions of followers. But impact is more complex, varied and beautiful than that.
We’re all impactful and we’re all influential in our own ways. You might be at home raising children—and making a monumental impact in the life of that precious human being. Or working with students—making a daily impact in the lives of young people. Even if you work in an office in a low or mid-level position, you still influence the coworkers around you and the culture of that office. You make a difference in your church, small group, community and family. No matter your personality or your position—you are impactful, it just looks different than the person next to you.
The question is: how are you going to use that influence?
