Pigeonholes

Romans 9:8

Luke 1:26-38

It's so easy and so wrong to pigeonhole people. We place expectations and limits on what they can do without regard for what other talents they might have as well. As a result we harm them, doing them wrong by not allowing them to develop other abilities; we harm ourselves by continuing to take on responsibilities which could be given to them; we harm the Body of Christ by not utilizing the resources individuals have to offer the greater Church. Yet as I was thinking about this recently, I realized that I am extremely guilty of pigeonholing myself. I see certain services in the Church as belonging to other people and by doing so I miss out on opportunities to serve in that capacity myself.
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Because all things are possible with God, He can invite us to new services and grant new talents to us that seemed far beyond our abilities before. I'm sure Mary never dreamed as a child that one day she would be visited by an angel and asked to become the mother of God Himself. She had not prepared for her service ahead of time but when God asked her to do something entirely new and unexpected, she was willing to obey. While I'm not exactly seeking out new opportunities to fill up my schedule, I do need to take advantage of the conversations and relationships and little helps that come up along the way. Perhaps the strangers I run into as I go about my day could become friends or need a prayer or would be thrilled for an invitation to my church or are in need of a simple smile and friendly greeting. Perhaps I can grow in hospitality toward my children's peers, blessing the children and their parents by loving them, influencing them, simply welcoming them and listening to whatever they have to tell me. Perhaps there are other opportunities that I have even recognized yet, dismissing them before even seeing them because I "don't have that talent". Maybe it's true that I didn't yesterday; maybe today is different. Maybe I'll try it and decide that service still isn't one of my strengths. But if God invites me to do something new, I know He'll also provide what I need to complete the task.
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Time and again God intervened in an impossible situation to allow the child of the promise to be born. Isaac was not a natural child; no woman so old as Sarah ever conceived without a miracle. Jesus also was not a natural child; no other woman ever conceived without "knowing a man". We are not ourselves natural children; we have been grafted into the vine of the family of God. If God can perform such incredible miracles, how could we ever doubt His ability to give us new talents for whatever new services He calls us to offer Him?