Gifts, Talents, and Your God-Given Purpose – Podcast Episode 22

Natural Living Family Podcast, Episode 22 Transcript: Gifts, Talents, and Your God-Given Purpose

The contents of this presentation are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This presentation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

[0:00 – 0:55] Prelude for Gifts, Talents, and Your God-Given Purpose

Dr. Z: Every day I encourage you and I invite you to wake in the morning and pray, “Lord, help me be a blessing to everyone. Help me bring out the best out of every one.” That’s what I started praying for you, instead of having God change you, because that used to be my prayer. And I didn’t know any better. “Change her.” Seriously, that’s a wrong prayer, by the way.

Mama Z: Yea, that was a really wrong prayer.

Dr. Z: It wasn’t like, “Change her to do this and be this.” It became, “God help me bring the best out of my wife.” I realized I had the uncanny ability to bring the best or worst out of you. I want to bring the best out of you.

Mama Z: I’ll never forget when we really were getting somewhere, you said, “You know what? I only think you’re wrong seventy-five percent of the time instead of a hundred percent of the time now.” I thought, “Wow, we are really making it somewhere.”

Dr. Z: That’s progress! That was progress. Now I only think you’re wrong fifty percent of the time. We’re doing good.

Mama Z: Hah, hah!

[0:56 – 1:24] Introducing Gifts, Talents and Your God-Given Purpose

Dr. Z: All right, Dr. Z here.

Mama Z: And Mama Z. And welcome to episode 22 of the Natural Living Family podcast.

Dr. Z: Each week we invite you to our home to talk about how you can master the art and science of natural living. And we share the very same tips our family uses every day to enjoy an abundant life. And you’re going to love today’s talk.

Mama Z: So, come on in and get comfortable. After all, you’re one of the family, our natural living family.

Dr. Z: But before we dive into all the fun today, we’re excited to share a special note about today’s sponsor.

 

[1:25 – 1:54] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market

Mama Z: As a special gift to our Natural Living Family podcast listeners, Thrive Market is giving you twenty-five percent off your first order.

Dr. Z: Plus a free 30-day trial. Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com to find the special link so you could redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.

 

[1:55 – 4:07] Diffuser Reveal: Fresh and Fun Blend!

Dr. Z: Well, hey there, everybody! Welcome to the show. Today, on episode 22, we’re going to be talking about gifts, talents, and your God-given purpose. Or, as Mama Z likes to say, “What instrument do you play? Because I play the radio.”

Mama Z: And I’ll talk about that story.

Dr. Z: All right Mama Z, before we begin, what is in our diffuser?

Mama Z: So, we have Melissa.

Dr. Z: Oooh, lemon balm.

Mama Z: Verbena, and peppermint. And those are the three herbs that I use from the garden to do my infused water. And so, the flavor together, it’s really very fresh and fun. And, you know, I really like it, just because those are some of the favorite herbs that I use together in the kitchen. So, anyways, together in the diffuser they are heavenly.

Dr. Z: Yea. And Melissa, the health properties of Melissa are almost unlimited, helping with diabetes. It has been shown to help kill glioblastoma in vitro, cells in a petri dish, which is brain cancer. Lots of things; lots of things Melissa can do. And if you can get your hands on it, get it.

Mama Z: And we grow it.

Dr. Z: And it gets a little pricey.

Mama Z: We grow it in our garden.

Dr. Z: Yea, we grow the herb in our garden. Melissa gets a little pricey when it comes to essential oils because

Mama Z: It’s such a dry herb. It really is. You go and feel, you feel the oils on your fingers; but it is very dry.

Dr. Z: Yea, and it takes a lot of plant matter just to get one itty bitty bottle. And that’s why, if you wonder, why are essential oils so expensive? Or, why is this expensive, but this is cheap? Orange oil and lemon, you can typically get for just a few bucks, I mean five to ten bucks a bottle. And then you get rose and jasmine and neroli and lemon balm.

Mama Z: Yea, if I took that whole plant out there, I would probably get a drop or two.

Dr. Z: Yea, exactly. That’s it, y’all. It’s just a matter of how much abundance there is of the plant matter, and then how much it requires to get a bottle. So, this isn’t the essential oil class, but we love enhancing our experience, our abundant life experience with essential oils.

Mama Z: Yes, absolutely.

 

[4:08 – 6:17] Testimonial Time!

Dr. Z: And we also like to enhance the experience of our podcast with sharing your reviews.

Mama Z: Yea, that’s so fun.

Dr. Z: Yea, so, this is from RedZey. Again, I love these names, by the way. No one ever uses their real name on these things.

Mama Z: What? And then somebody is going to come up to you and say, “Hey my name is RedZey.”

Dr. Z: It might be their last name; I don’t know. Man or woman, I have no idea. RedZey, a five-star review. And we got a lot of five-star reviews, by the way.

Mama Z: That’s awesome!

Dr. Z: Even if you don’t leave us a five-star review, we still love you. But leave us a review, and leave a comment.

Mama Z: And I do like the five-star ones; don’t get me wrong.

Dr. Z: We do. We do.

Mama Z: I really like those.

Dr. Z: But it’s kind of taboo to ask for a five-star.

Mama Z: I’m not asking.

Dr. Z: Well, they teach you that in like internet marketing school, which does not exist. But I’ve been told when I go to conferences and stuff, “Don’t ever ask for a five-star. But just ask them…”—here’s a tip, y’all. If you’re a blogger, you ask people to leave a review; but don’t like guilt trip them. “Hey, if you leave me a five-star, I’ll give you like a free this.” No, no, no. Just let the reviews come. But it is, it’s funny. I was told it’s taboo.

But anyway, this is a legit five-star review. And it’s titled, “So Informative and Enlightening.” “I love this podcast,” Red Zey says. “It is information overload. But I can go back and listen over and over and over again, and take notes to be informed and to stay on top of the importance of knowing what is in the ingredients of every single thing I put into my body, and do my part to be in charge of things I can control.”

Mama Z: Awesome!

Dr. Z: Whoa! That’s a mouthful. “Thank you so much for all of the research and sharing with us. Keep the information coming. I’m eager to listen and learn and then apply what I learn to my life.”

Mama Z: That’s awesome!

Dr. Z: I mean this is the best student of life ever. I love this. “Keep the information coming. I’m eager to listen and learn and apply what I learn to my life.”

Mama Z: Love it! And one of the best ways to absorb it is to then turn around and teach it to your kids and all of that.

Dr. Z: Yes, and your friends and your neighbors and whoever will give you an ear to hear.

 

[6:18 – 14:09] Listen. Learn. Research. And Apply.

Dr. Z: And so, in the context of today’s episode, episode 22, “Gifts, Talents, and Your God-Given Purpose,” I love this quote because, you know, one thing that I feel is not just a talent of mine; I don’t even say it’s a talent—a gift; it’s something that I had actually put into practice. We’re going to talk about that, too. Just because you might be gifted or talented doesn’t mean you actually are going to be good at something.

And something I had to practice was to listen, learn, research, and then apply. That’s a big deal. A lot of people suffer from what’s known as ignorance on fire, or paralysis by analysis. And that means there is so much information, that is overwhelming to the point where they don’t know what to do. They’re frozen–paralysis by analysis. And so, what I love that Red Zey is talking about here is that she is really focused.

Mama Z: Or he.

Dr. Z: She or he is focused, because they are digesting the information. And even though it might be overwhelming, which it’s intended to be at one point, because we’re trying to help everybody, whether someone listening is brand new to natural living, or someone that’s been around for quite a while. We guarantee that someone is going to get something. I mean this might be information overload for other people. Other people might be like, “Oh, those were really good one or two tips.

But either way, you listen. You go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com. You get the show notes. You get the transcripts. You join our newsletter. You stay in touch. But practice. And we talked a little bit about that, too. You know, “Faith without deeds is dead.” So, Sabrina, talk to us about this subtitle, “What Do You Play? Because I Play the Radio.” Set the stage.

Mama Z: Okay, so, what instrument do you play? And I would ask my dad, you know, “What instrument do you play?” “Well, I play the radio. And I play it real well.” And it’s kind of one of those things, you know, kind of stay in your lane type thing. But, you know, we are all called according to a purpose. And it’s important to, you know, learn and grow and gather what that is.

That’s one of the reasons why they’ve got lots of different after school activities for our kids. And I like for them to experience all of that, the arts, dance, all of the different kinds of things. And people say, “What, boys, girls?” Yea, two of each. But the thing is is that if they don’t get the opportunity, then they might not get to really find the thing that fuels part of their passion. And so, I think it’s a good thing to be able to see what you can do.

And, you know, we’re going to talk a little bit about this more. We know that because God has called us according to His purpose, and there’s a great Scripture on that, one of my favorites, Romans 8:28. I’m going to just read it.

Dr. Z: Yes, please.

Mama Z: “And we know that God causes all things to work for good to them that love God and those who are called according to His purpose.” So, when I was a younger Christian, after I really accepted the Lord, I was really looking for my passion. And I really felt called to serve on the worship team.

And I remember working side by side. I was helping a friend paint a house on the inside. And they were working on electrical stuff, and I started talking about it. Well, what I didn’t know was that he was in charge of all the praise and worship people. And he says, “Well, you know, if you’re really feeling like you need to be a part of that, then you need to be a part of that.”

And I remember really feeling called, but never really having as much of the encouragement when it came to singing and stuff, because I really didn’t have a strong voice. But I really felt called in this area. And so, I went out for the praise and worship team, because I would praise and worship like all the time by myself in the bathroom and everywhere else.

So, I remember when I first started that I knew I was supposed to be there. And so, I really just started praying and fasting over it and truly just like seeking what God had for that moment. And I remember when I first started, I mean I was praising the Lord, but at first like no words were coming out. So, I was like completely lip-syncing. And that’s about all I could do like when I first started. But I knew that God had called me to sing.

Dr. Z: When you were in the choir.

Mama Z: Yes. And sometimes it just took like a song or two and then I would like start to hear the vocals come out. But I remember when I first started out, like I don’t know even know what I am, soprano, alto, or lower. So, first time I was like, “Well, soprano, that sounds really hard.” So, I was like, “I’m going to go with the altos.” And they go, “I don’t think you’re an alto. I think like maybe you’re higher than that.”

So, then I went to the one that’s just a little bit lower than that. And I remember this sweet older lady. She looked at me and she goes, “Honey, you’re a soprano. You need to go over there with them.” And I was scared.

Dr. Z: That’s a commitment.

Mama Z: I was like, “That’s high right there.” But I went over there and I was like, “Oh, I feel at home.” I had gone all over the place. And I remember when my voice really was strong for the Lord, because I knew that was what I was called to do. I worked hard. I worked hard on my voice. And some of it was like just resting in knowing that I was where I needed to be at that time, and having the words and the vocals and all of that to come out. I did everything that you’re supposed to do. I mean I learned how to breathe right, how to project my voice right.

Dr. Z: You were drinking Throat Coat tea.

Mama Z: Throat Coat tea with fresh lemon and honey in there. I mean every trick under the sun, moon, and the rainbows. And, you know, it was really, really cool, because I watched God just develop this gift, because that was an area that I knew I was called in. And had I not followed after that, or had I not said anything to the person that was in charge, then I would never have had that opportunity.

And then a very cool story, once I took the job at the Chamber of Commerce running the Farmer’s Market and all the members at the Chamber of Commerce, I put some of my Christian testimony in the newspaper article. And I had gotten a call from a pastor from a city over from us, who you became friends with later. And they wanted me to come and share my testimony and sing for the church. And so, I did.

And it was really cool, because things got to come full circle. And then I sang for friends’ weddings and other things like that. If you had heard my voice on tape, which we had from one of my pageants when I gave up a title, I sang with my mom, then you could definitely see the difference there from before being anointed by God to do what I was doing until after that.

 

[14:10 – 23:42] How Do I Find My God-Given Purpose?

Dr. Z: So, Sabrina just mentioned Romans chapter 8. The Bible says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, love God, and to those who are called according to His purpose.” You know, we are called to a greater purpose, because we are called according to His purpose.

And we get from people—and I struggle with this—not knowing the answer to this question: “What is my God-given purpose? What are my gifts? What are my talents? Like why am I here? Essentially, why am I here, and what should I do with my life?” That’s really at the crux of what this is. You know, this isn’t about someone being really good at a sport and playing as a hobby or whatever. Someone wants to do something.

I’m talking about your gift, your talent. Like why are you here on this planet? What are you contributing to? How do you fit in the body of Christ? Are you the toe? Are you the hand? Are you the eye? Are you the foot?

Mama Z: I hope I’m not the armpit.

Dr. Z: No, you’re the beautiful painted, naturally painted with no formaldehyde toenail, or fingernails. You’re probably fingernails, even though you seem to bust your fingers a lot lately.

Mama Z: Well, I’ve got like permanent dirt marks.

Dr. Z: I know, you’re always chipping fingernails. So, the thing is we get this from people, like, “How do I know?” And by me not knowing, and being confused, even confused essentially why I’m here. What are my talents? What are my gifts? What is my God-given purpose? It drove me to a state when I was a young adult to be depressed, like really depressed.

And that’s when I started self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and other things. And I knew I had a God-given purpose. I just didn’t know what it was. And that was because I didn’t even know God. And so, what we want to do is first of all to find and to understand who you are, your gifts, your talents, your God-given purpose. What instrument do you play, right?

You need to have that relationship with Christ. You need to be tied, not just connected to; you need to be intimately acquainted with, one with your Maker. Like Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” Like we bear fruit because we are in Him. If we are not in Him, there’s no fruit that can be borne.

And so, we know that we are grafted into this beautiful, beautiful tree, so to speak. We are part of this body of Christ. And at the crux, at the beginning, the foundation, the cornerstone is Jesus, our Savior, and knowing Him as our Savior. And by virtue of that, you become one. You become one with the Father. You become one with the Son. You become one with the Holy Spirit, right?

Mama Z: Right. And the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives within us. And that’s huge, because think about that. It’s so true. And I remember the pastor at church on Sunday mentioned that. But I have thought about that so many times, because that’s powerful.

Dr. Z: And so, the answer to this age-long timeless question is in Christ. And so, first you have to know Him. And now that you know Him, now that you’re part of the fold, now that you are one with the one who created you, I would encourage, like Sabrina mentioned, fasting and praying. And that could look like a million different ways, whether you want to do a water fast, like we have many times a juice fast. You want to stay away from “sweet breads” and things like Daniel did in the Bible.

But just take a moment where you’re disciplined, and you deny yourself something that is pleasant, like maybe TV, your cell phone, whatever, caffeine. And you spend the time that you maybe would spend doing something, like watching TV, and spending extra time in prayer, Bible study, reading. And pray and ask God. Like that to me is how to find your gifts and talents and God-given purpose.

And this is such a fundamental question. I remember being a baby Christian. And part of the new believer class was like a spiritual gift inventory. Have you ever taken those?

Mama Z: Yea. We used to do that when I was a kid, actually.

Dr. Z: Again, this is adult learning. This is what churches do on a regular basis. Like we’ve become so untapped into who we are in Christ that we need a form, that we need to go through classes, to take a spiritual gift inventory to help us say, “Hey, you might have this gift. You might be like that.” I find that very limited. And we could talk a little bit more about that, because there is not like one gift. There is not just one aspect of who you are. You look at Jesus.

Mama Z: Right. Well, I had said before in another podcast that like when I accepted the Lord and I knew that I was going to be helping people with their life. And like God had said, “You need to clean up the toilets in your own life first.” And so, I signed up for the toilet crew. I can clean toilets. Remember, I already established that from a kid.

But in doing that stuff, just being able to explore the different gifts that were used in hospitality and with cleaning and all that kind of stuff, that fueled a lot of the passion that I had, especially just stuff that my grandma had taught me. I learned from some great people who were very anointed in that area. Man, I picked up some good tips that I still use today.

And so, not everybody feels called even to go into the nursery. But sometimes, like I’ve mentioned before, we have to throw our heart over that bar, and our body and our mind and soul will follow, just like Norman Vincent Peale says. Sometimes it’s a matter of I’ll see what thing floats my boat.

But other times it’s a matter of doing. And within doing, that’s where some of the other passions are blossomed.

Dr. Z: So, one thing that I’ve seen, especially with these spiritual gift inventories, it’s kind of funny, but people take these exams or fill out the form, and they’re like, “Oh, I’ve got the gift of hospitality.” And they sign up for like the greeter job. Or like, “I have the gift of evangelism.” And they sign up to do like door to door ministry. And they just shouldn’t be doing what they think they are doing. They like shove a tract in someone’s face, like, “Jesus is your Lord.”

Mama Z: Or, “I’m not going to give you a tip, but I’m going to leave you a tract.”

Dr. Z: Yea, that’s another thing. Yea, if you’re a Christian and you go out to eat, you better be tipping at least twenty to twenty-five percent.

Mama Z: You want people to want to serve you. In fact, if I don’t hear that you just totally blessed your server, you need to, because they work hard.

Dr. Z: Like no tips, but you give them a tract. Gift of salvation—that doesn’t work. They’re working for a living.

Mama Z: I’ll tell you. I saw the guys. They were working so hard yesterday outside. And I gave them a little tip. I just really appreciate how much they do.

Dr. Z: How much?

Mama Z: I gave them each forty bucks.

Dr. Z: Forty bucks? You didn’t ask me that.

Mama Z: Do I need to ask you? I wanted to bless them.

Dr. Z: Good job! Hah, hah, hah!

Mama Z: But I did because, you know what? They’re out there working hard. They were sweating. And they were doing something because I’m allergic to the pine bark nuggets.

Dr. Z: Yea, just a little bit.

Mama Z: And you know, they were doing all that to bless me and to help me. And I appreciated it so much. And they didn’t have to help with all that stuff. They could have been doing some other things.

But the bottom line is as Christians, we want to be a good example. And we want to take good care of people; and not just so everybody will want to wait on us. But I mean I would want people to literally be fighting over who gets you at the door if you’re going somewhere. And you want to take care of people.

Dr. Z: And this is not lateral. Yea, this not a unilateral experience. This is multi-faceted. And one thing I’ve learned now being a Christian for sixteen years is that gifts and talents grow. And I flow in different areas. It all depends on the time and the season. And the best example is Jesus and Paul and the apostles. And yes, there might have been an anointing.

And the book of Ephesians says that God has given us some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And maybe someone has like an anointing for a certain office. But just because someone might be a pastor doesn’t mean he can’t like evangelize. And just because someone is an evangelist doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability or talent or gift to church plant like an apostle.

So, I just want to say don’t put yourself—

Mama Z: In a box.

Dr. Z: And especially don’t put God in a box. And know like Jesus, like just moments after having this gift of compassion and crying when he saw Mary and Martha and everyone of Lazarus’ family; he wept. He raised him from the dead. I mean there’s like a power gift right after a compassion gift. And he went to the learning and teaching gift and spoke to thousands of people and led them to a saving knowledge.

And so, just know that you are so multi-dimensional because you are made in God’s image. And if you just know the fact that the Holy Spirit that dwells within you is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead and then helped create the plant, you’ll know.

 

[23:43 – 28:12] Keys to Uncovering Your Gifts

Dr. Z: And here are a couple of tips. We want to give you some tips about finding your gifts and talents, because I do definitely feel that these spiritual gift inventories, they might be fun. But it’s just like a lot of these personality things that you take, like Myers-Briggs, or whatever they call them, fact-finders or whatever it is. What is it called, gift-finders?

Mama Z: We’ve taken all kinds of them.

Dr. Z: Like all this stuff only tells you who you are at this moment. If you want a snapshot of where you’re at in the moment, yea sure. It’s just like taking a blood test. But that blood test won’t define who you are ten years from now, because you’re going to change ten years from now physically, just like you will emotionally and spiritually and even in your professional development.

So, one thing I’ve learned, and this is from my own personal experience. If you’re just clueless, like I was, like “I don’t know why I’m here, what my God-given purpose is, what my gifts and talents are. Yea, I’m kind of good at this, but I don’t know, you know, whatever.” You know, look at your weaknesses. Like we’re talking significant weaknesses. And something that I’ve seen come in the research world is that people with a natural weakness, like a physical weakness, it’s actually a sign of a potential gift or strength that they might have.

And when I read that, I’m like this is really interesting, because I used to have a chronic stammering condition. I stuttered. And a lot of it stemmed from just being a very anxious, stressed out, very fearful child. And I was five years old when I first started going to a speech therapist on a regular basis to help me speak. And that was hard, by the way, when you can’t talk. And it wasn’t as bad as some people. Like if you’ve ever seen the movie, “The King’s Speech.” It wasn’t that bad. But it was pretty bad enough that I needed to go to the speech therapist for most of my adolescence.

Now, to come from that to where I’m at today, for all intents and purposes as a professional speaker, it’s kind of wild to see things come full circle. And we see the same thing for people that have weak muscles or emotions or whatever it might be, like something that might be a natural weakness for you. Like your natural tendency in the flesh might be to lash out in anger or insensitivity. Well, maybe there’s this like really deep-rooted gift of compassion that you have, and this is something that you have to flesh out through hard work, through discipline, through prayer and fasting.

And it gets significant. It gets really deep, because we can’t allow our past to define out present or our future. And so, when I started reading research articles about this stuff, I’m like this is really wild. That’s why you don’t even know, but James Earl Jones and some of the most well-known actors and actresses and singers, a lot of them have Tourette’s, a lot of them have speech impediments, and lot of them are chronic stammerers. And they use the stage as a way to control whatever it is that’s causing them to have that speech impairment and to speak fluently.

And so, that’s kind of crazy. So, just to throw it out there, do you have like this natural innate, or ever since as far as you can remember this weakness, handicap, disability, whatever you want to name it? Maybe there could be something there deeper. Like what would that look like if you flipped that upside down like me? What would it look like if you flipped that speech impediment, that chronic stammering condition upside down and became a professional speaker?

Sabrina’s story is perfect. Now I want you to talk about Craig in a minute. But here’s the thing. The Bible is clear. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Mama Z: And don’t forget the second part of that–and not even withhold the requests of your lips. And then it says, “Selah”—so, think about it.

Dr. Z: Hallelujah! So, if you don’t know why, where, when, how. Why are you here on this planet? What’s your God-given purpose? What are your gifts and talents? Again, this is what we’re talking about. What instrument do you play? I play the radio, right? That’s what Sabrina’s dad says.

Here’s a practical thing: start to worship God. Start to delight yourself in Him. Fall in love with your Savior and your Lord all over again, because He promises to give you the desires of your heart. And you’ll find yourself desiring things. Like desiring the papers that just fell on the floor, I’ve got to pick them up. Hah, hah, hah! But, hey, go for it. Tell us about Craig Lang.

 

[28:13 – 34:59] Uncovering your God-Given Purpose

Mama Z: Yea, it was very interesting, because I had gone through what I had gone through. And you know, one of the reasons why I enjoyed my church so much was because Craig was on the worship team, and I had known him for many years. It was kind of interesting. My dad was looking to buy a car. And he listed all the qualities that he needed in his sales person.

Dr. Z: And this is something that I did for my wife. I actually did this. I listed a list. We’ve got to talk about this. We’ve got to find a way. But know that your dad did this for the car salesman.

Mama Z: Yea, my dad did this. So basically, Dick Garber who owns many, many car dealerships, he’s such a sweet person and he’s just a great person. And he says, “Well, do you know what our dad is looking for in a car salesman?” And I go, “I don’t know.” So, I went home and asked him. So, my dad like literally wrote a list of what he was looking for. And he looked up at me and he says, “I only have one person for him. And that’s Craig Lang.”

And so, it was really cool, because there were just so many crossovers. And so, you know, when I had started going to the church, when I saw him, I was like, “Oh, this is so cool! I know him.” And it was just neat because I didn’t know his story about being the praise and worship leader.

Dr. Z: He had CDs out of his band “Driven.” They toured. He had a really cool, raspy voice.

Mama Z: Yea, absolutely. So, I had gone through like my experience. And then I had heard his story. It was so cool, because it was similar. And I guess when he first started singing, they didn’t have like even the sound up at all. It was like completely down. And then as he was stronger, they put the volume up more. And so, he had a very similar testimony. But like he is an amazing singer who does all kinds of concerts.

Dr. Z: And he believed God for his voice.

Mama Z: He did, like I did.

Dr. Z: He had such a desire. So, the thing was, when he became a Christian, he had a radical transformation.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: And he was like me, blind, now I see. And God put it on his heart to be a singer. And he was like, “I’m not a singer. I can’t sing.” And God gave him the faith. And He really just imparted that desire. And he worked on it. And that’s the next step, putting deeds to your faith.

Mama Z: And that story came in right at the time that I needed it.

Dr. Z: It inspired you.

Mama Z: And it had inspired me so much because, I mean, I prayed even more. I fasted over it. I just really knew.

And you know, one time when I was working for the Saginaw Spirit, I sat next to the coach. And I said to him, “Just as a question, who would you rather pick? Would you rather pick somebody who’s naturally talented? Or would you rather pick someone who is just really willing to work hard?” And he looked at me and he said, “You know what? So many people that have natural talent throw it away.” And he said, “But I’m telling you, if someone has even a shred of talent, as a coach, I can turn that into so much more. And if they have passion about it, you don’t even know what their potential is.”

Dr. Z: It makes me want to watch the movie Rudy again. Watch the movie, Rudy.

Mama Z: Also, what about that guy who was the skier?

Dr. Z: Oh, Eddie the Eagle. And The Blind Side. And so, there are so many. This is like all sports movie day.

Mama Z: Seriously.

Dr. Z: Facing the Giants, that’s a good one.

Mama Z: When I talked to Craig about it, that talk with the coach ran through my head as well. And, you know, we can’t limit God, because with God all things are possible, not some; all things are possible. And if God has put it on your heart, and if you have something in your life that God has put on your heart that you need to do, then you need to figure out what you need to do to do it. And lot of times that starts with being on your knees and talking to God about it.

Dr. Z: So, again, to kind of recap here, we’re talking about your gifts, your talents, finding your God-given purpose. First of all, you need a relationship with Christ Jesus. If you don’t have one, then it’s simply just fall on your knees right now and be like, “God, I love you. I believe what these people are saying. I need Jesus. There’s something in my life.” And I’ll tell you, it’s sin that needs to be recompensed. And just confess that sin. Say, “Lord, I am a sinner. I realize I need Jesus. I don’t want to do this life alone. I ask that you heal me. I ask that you bless me. Come into my life.”

It’s that simple. Like the Bible says, “If you believe in your heart and speak with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you are saved.” Like that’s it. Like that’s it. There’s no secret handshake. There’s no money exchange. You can keep your credit card in your wallet. I mean it’s that simple. It’s very between you and the Lord. And you commit. It’s called committing your life to Christ. That’s the foundation.

And now, if you do, for those of you who have, you know, we’re united to the Vine. And we are called to be fruitful. We are all called to be fruitful. And it’s a wonderful life. Like the parable of the sower, read Matthew 13. We do not want the seeds planted on solid ground that the birds are going to pick up and steal the blessings that God has for us. We want to be fruitful, thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold to produce fruit.

So, fast and pray. That’s the thing. So, first, know Christ. Commit your life or recommit your life to Him. Dedicate this area of your life, your God-given purpose, your gifts, your talents to Him, because we know He will cause your thoughts and plans to be established. He will guide you. Fast and pray. Really, it’s so important. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” These are guiding principles that will help you find out why am I here.

Like Sabrina and Craig, having the crazy desire in the heart to be singers and worship leaders; God put it in their heart. God helped them manifest it. And also, like my own story, do you have any just kind of crazy, weird weaknesses or handicaps or disabilities or things that just don’t make sense. Do you have like this unnatural fear of heights? Like that’s not natural, by the way. That’s not normal. Maybe God has something, I don’t know, like a pilot. I don’t know.

There are so many things that you have no idea what God is trying to do. And the enemy, the thief, the Devil is trying to rob. And so, what I’ve noticed is that the enemy will trick us, will convince us that the areas that we’re called to are actually weak. And that’s where we have to get beyond the flesh and get in the Spirit.

And there’s one more tip on how to find your gifts and talents. But before we cover that, a quick word about our sponsor.

Dr. Z: There’s nothing like hearing the doorbell of the delivery person letting me know that a Thrive Market package has landed on our doorstep. It’s like Christmas time every time we get a package.

Mama Z: Yes, from ingredients to snacks, it’s so awesome. And the kids go nuts.

Dr. Z: We love Thrive Market, the convenience, the price, and just the movement, because we know that every dollar spent goes to a more sustainable, healthy, natural world. So, if you haven’t joined, then what are you waiting for? You’re going to absolutely love it.

 

[35:00 – 41:51] Are You Putting Deeds to Your Faith?

Dr. Z: So, the final tip on how to find and discover gifts and talents is you have to put your deeds to your faith and see what happens. And Sabrina already just shared what she did, and Craig’s story, about how they practiced, they worked, they legitimately put into works their faith, in the sense that they manifested it. That’s all it is.

And this isn’t New Age hocus pocus. We hear the word manifest. This is like you believe in your heart and you speak things and you live things. And through the power of God who spoke the universe into existence with his words, that power is within us. And we have a power to create things that are not as though they were, right?

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: And so, for my own life, you know, for me I didn’t realize that I had a gift, a talent in writing. And so, I remember being a kid and looking at my dad, who was a short story writer. And I wrote my first little story when I was in first grade about Stan the Tiger. And it was really cute. I won this little award. And I had this desire.

I just remember looking up to my dad and being like, “I want to do that.” And my dad didn’t do it professionally. He sold a few stories over the years and made a couple of bucks. I remember when my dad sold his first story. He had like a shot of whiskey. He gave me a shot of ginger ale, and we just celebrated. Like that was my dad back in like 1985. It was like he sold his first thing. I remember when I sold my first thing, we made seven dollars. You remember?

Mama Z: Yes. And it took you a week. It took you a week to do it.

Dr. Z: It took me a week to write this article, and I made seven dollars. And I was overseas. But God put it on my heart to write. And lo and behold, who would have thought that I would have been a ghost blogger for some of the you would not expect kind of blogs, paying you seven dollars an article. And it took hours of my life.

Mama Z: Oh my gosh. And I remember you were like, “If I’m going to do this, I’ve got to figure this out.”

Dr. Z: God put it on my heart. I became granted, because I earned grants, to become a medical writer, like a professional medical writer, to a professional public health researcher, to a best-selling author. Like who would have thought that God would put that desire in my heart when I was a little kid. But I had to put deeds to my faith.

And for me, when I really started working this was when I was in school. I was like, “Well, Lord, I really want to do this, so, let’s try it.” And you know? It just kind of happened. It was just like not overnight. I can’t even pinpoint the moment it happened. But the next thing you know, I became writer. People started referring to me as an author.

Now we’re being interviewed by TV, radio, news all over the place, podcasts, about the books we write. And it’s like, “Where did that happen?” you know. So, you have to put deeds to your faith and hone your skill. You know, submit your work to people. Submit your gift to people. Share it with your loved ones, your mentors, your pastors.

But, you know, there’s so much about how to find your gifts and talents. If I would have put deeds to my faith and if I kept on hitting a brick wall, well, after a time you’ve got to give up. I mean there has to be a limit. But you know what? You’ll know that limit. Because at the end of the day, we see these stories right at the brink of giving up. They give one last shot, and that’s the Rudy’s. And that’s the Blind Sides. And that’s the Eddy the Eagles. And that’s the people that shape the world because they have that last umph. You know what? Right before I give up, let me try one last time. So, right before you give up, try that one last time.

Mama Z: You know what? That made me think of, too, of my side of just the writing. And you know, my mom always let me be very involved in her business, even from a very young age. I mean we have a picture of me when I was five at the farmer’s market with her selling. And you know, she let me help with a lot of things. And eventually I saw that I had a business talent. And I ended up going into business school.

And then when I was in marketing in my senior year, I was able to use my mom’s company as a project for marketing with some of my friends. We got together and literally wrote her marketing plan. And then I updated it a few years later and got to fulfill a lot of that.

But then later, you know, she had one book out there. And I remember as a little kid, we actually worked each a station on making this book. It was like a spiral-bound book. And we helped with every part of that. But later on, I ended up doing all her publishing and doing all of the putting everything together. And we had an amazing friend who would look it over as far as like editing and stuff like that. But how many books I helped her to self-publish. And they were all like recipes and stuff like that.

And then when I started developing my recipes, I knew how to do the layout. I knew how to do all this stuff because I had published so many of these books. And in fact, one of the times, it showed me how important editing was. And after that, we always had an editor. They had a book on edible flowers. And instead of edible pansies, I put edible panties. And it was a total editing thing. And my mom caught it, thank God. But I mean I’m literally pink right now. But nobody else caught it. But I sure did.

Dr. Z: This is the PG version of this Natural Living Family show. Poor Chris over here is blushing.

Mama Z: It was an edible flowers book.

Dr. Z: Well, hey, if you want to see the fruit of the effort there, go to MamaZItalian.com.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: Check out MamaZSalads.com. And then you get a chance to see Mama Z’s cookbooks and her cooking classes.

Mama Z: And if you ever find any edits, let us know.

Dr. Z: Yes! Please, no edible panties. So, okay. We talked about finding your gifts and talents. We set the stage for, again, we are all called according to His purpose, which is the divine greater, God-given purpose. We’re talking about gifts and talents.

 

[41:52 – 48:15] How to Fortify & Nurture Your Talents

Dr. Z: Now, tips to fortify and to nurture your talents. So, we don’t have a lot of time here, Sabrina. But choose one or the other, sports or pageants. Which one?

Mama Z: It kind of all goes together.

Dr. Z: How about one or the other?

Mama Z: Well, it goes together.

Dr. Z: Okay, how about one or the other?

Mama Z: No, it goes together. So, one of my first experiences with a very high-level coach in speed skating, I remember both of her kids were either finalists or were in the Olympics as well. And her name was Nancy Swider-Peltz. And she said, “You’ve got to do every set like it was your last, at the gym, wherever you’re at. Do it with all your heart.” She said, “If you start quitting the little things, then the bigger things are easier to quit.”

And I trained with her a summer when I was like in eighth grade. But I remember that to this day, and always doing every set like it’s my last, whether it’s at the gym, or whether it’s wherever I’m at, trying to utilize the skill and hone those talents to make sure that I’m doing my part to strengthen those gifts and talents.

And it doesn’t matter whether you’re doing activities at church, scrubbing toilets, changing babies’ diapers, whether you’re at home cooking meals, or doing a pageant, or being involved in sports. But take your passions and sharpen your skills in the way that they need to be sharpened, and never give up. And make sure that whatever you’re doing is going to help grow and establish the gifts that God has given you.

Dr. Z: And you mentioned changing babies’ diapers. I’m thinking how many people have a passion for child care, and they want to run a day care. But they can’t stand changing diapers. Probably not the job for you. You know, think about that, right? We get the big picture. We get the entrepreneur bug. We want to do this. We have great things. But what about the little things? You mentioned Dick Garber. You guys know Garber dealerships. We know the Garbers. They own what, a hundred-fifty plus, the family?

Mama Z: Yea, they own a lot of dealerships all over the country.

Dr. Z: Garber, he has worked every level of every aspect of the business.

Mama Z: Yea, that was the coolest thing, because I wanted to know his story when I first met him. And I remember him telling me, his father had died. And his uncle really wanted him to learn the business from all the different aspects. So, he got to work like in the shop and all the different areas.

Dr. Z: He was a porter. He was a clerk. He was a salesman. I mean he did everything.

Mama Z: Yea. And it taught him two things. It showed him the people that were doing their jobs and not doing their jobs. But it also showed him how to be the best at every level, and really understand the business from the bottom up. And I think that’s really important, because you never know, especially as a business owner, where you have to step into certain areas, too. So, having the knowledge that you do in those areas really helped. But it also helps you to be successful in all of those areas as well.

Dr. Z: So, tips of fortifying and nurturing your talents and gifts, and really just manifesting walking into and fulfilling the call that God has on your life…Calls, really, because they change. And that’s one thing. I can’t impress upon you enough, if you are growing, you should be experiencing change. You should not be stagnant.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: I mean the most successful people, the most gifted people, go from one discipline to another discipline to another discipline to another discipline. They’re the same people that are climbing on Everest, and they’re writing the books, and they’re building the next billion-dollar business. They’ve just got it dialed in.

So, at the core, though, is faithfulness. You know, in Luke chapter 16, Jesus says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” So, it doesn’t matter where you’re at, you need to be faithful and trustworthy. And the follow-up verse is Colossians 3:23:

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

And I would like to add, when the Bible and Paul says that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward, I think that obviously that is two-fold. We always look to the eternal inheritance. But what about the here and now? What about the inheritance that God wants us to have? Because for us, we die, we’re giving our stuff to the kids. They get to enjoy it now while they’re alive. They don’t get to enjoy anything when they’re dead. There’s a concept of inheritance being designed by God to be enjoyed while you’re alive.

And so, there’s something. There’s something that as we, it’s a day by day, moment by moment as we work for the Lord, not for people, regardless of whether or not you hate your job, you love your job, whatever it is, whether you’re doing chores for your parents or whatever; serving your next door neighbor, at church. You work as for the Lord, He will give you the inheritance like now. And part of that is your manifestation of your gifts, your talents, your God-given purpose, and joy. And we know that the joy of the Lord is strength, and peace, and love, and purpose.

You know The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren? Number one most sold book ever, next to the Bible. Think about that. We’re not talking Oprah. We’re not talking Stephen Hawking. We’re not talking the most famous people in the world. Next to the Bible is The Purpose-Driven Life. What does that tell you? We actually should have said this fifty minutes ago before we started to set the stage—how important it is. People are craving for their God-given purpose.

Mama Z: Yea.

Dr. Z: They have no idea where to begin. And they’re buying a book called The Purpose-Driven Life because it promises them a roadmap. By the way, get the book. It’s a good book. But you know, it tells me that it transcends health, it transcends desire for money. Like again, all these money-making books, none are number one. It’s The Purpose-Driven Life. And that’s what God promises to you.

Mama Z: Yea.

 

[48:16 – 55:30] Are You Open and Flexible to The God-Given Purposes for Your Life?

Dr. Z: The last point we want to make is something that I’ve seen with both of us and something that God really had to drill in us. And He used our pastor, Dr. Mark T. Barclay, his famous proverb, “Blessed are the flexible, for they won’t be broken.” We need to be open to God’s purposes in our lives.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: Like the book of Proverbs says, “A person’s mind plans their ways, but the Lord directs their steps.” If we would have been dogmatic when we moved down here to Georgia, because, you know, I’m going to chiropractic college. We were supposed to have our health center. You were supposed to lead home birth groups and home school mom groups and prayer ministry at a local clinic. And we were supposed to serve the local people and treat people and help people. If we would have been dogmatic to that, and we would have been so fixated, “well, this is what we had determined in our mind,” we would not be doing what we’re doing right now.

Mama Z: No. “And I really feel like when we try to step into God’s role, then we kind of get robbed of ours.”

Dr. Z: That’s good. Can you repeat that? That’s a quote. That’s a pullout quote. Hey, our transcriptionist, our note takers, this is a quote. This goes on the infographic. What’s that?

Mama Z: I can’t even say it. It came out of the Spirit.

Dr. Z: Anyway, it was brilliant genius. Chris, we’ve got to rewind it. We’re going to go back to that. Chris is like taking notes. But that’s a great one.

Mama Z: And, you know, it’s really important to step out of God’s way sometimes, because unless we do, then we’ll never get to see the fulfillment of the real true purpose that God has for us. And it’s always going to be something way better than we thought. But, you know, the thing that you mentioned about being faithful with a little and God will give you more things to be faithful about, man, that applies to every area of your life.

And I remember when I had my little Prism car. And, you know, I knew doing sales and driving around, I needed to have a clean car. You know, I didn’t want to show up somewhere and have like tons of dirt and all this stuff. And I had to carry around a bazooka and stuff like that in my car.

Dr. Z: Wait, wait, hold on. You’ve got to explain that. She used to shoot t-shirts.

Mama Z: Well, it was like the frilly part of my job. However, I did get pulled over.

Dr. Z: At the game. So, you go to a hockey game, baseball game, you have someone like shooting out t-shirts to the crowd. Like she would have her bazooka, her air-powered bazooka.

Mama Z: So, you know, I’m carrying these things around. And so, I put all myself usually in my trunk.

Dr. Z: Yea.

Mama Z: And so, the guys at the dealership would always laugh, and they would call it my quarter-ton Prism, because I’d have like everything in my trunk. So, the rest of the car looked amazing. But every week, I would take everything out, vacuum it call, vacuum the car, wash the car, all of that stuff. And I really wanted to be faithful with few. And I knew that God would give me more things to be faithful for.

And then I had my own apartment, and I took really good care of it. I washed the floors on my hands and knees, which is the only true way to get everything a hundred percent clean, every week. And I did that very faithfully. And, you know, I really feel like God really honored that. But God does that in every area.

Dr. Z: Your talents, your God-given purpose; I mean that’s it. That’s it. So, you hold God to the Word that He gives you. And there’s a good way. Like, “God, you told me to do this. I’m going to do it.”

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: And you walk with faith and expectation, because we know what faith is. It is “believing that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Mama Z: And, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And we need to “not grow weary in well-doing, because in due season we will reap if we faint not.”

Dr. Z: This life that we have in Christ is the most enjoyable, the most loving, can be sometimes the most challenging life that you could ever hope for. It’s so rewarding. It’s never without a dull moment. I can’t remember, nor will I ever say I’m bored. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever said I’m bored.

Mama Z: And if you ever did, I’d make you do like Elijah and Esther and Isabel. I would put you in the corner and make you do burpees and sit-ups and all kinds of stuff.

Dr. Z: You know, there’s never a dull moment. There’s no such thing as retirement in my Bible. Just your roles change.

Mama Z: Right.

Dr. Z: You just don’t die in your La-Z-Boy watching the soap operas on TV. It’s a life worth living that’s full or purpose. And the purpose is helping. The purpose is to give. The purpose is to empower others. That’s what Jesus meant when He says, “I’m busy about doing the Father’s business.” We need to be busy about doing the Father’s business. And that’s it.

So, some people might be called to a preaching gift, a teaching gift, an evangelistic gift, the hospitality gift, the prophetic gift, whatever gift at this moment. But there could be gifts, and then just be open. And that’s why we wanted to end with flexibility.

Mama Z: Yes.

Dr. Z: You’ll find that God, especially as the Spirit needs, because we see Jesus, we see Paul, we see the disciples, we see men and women of God today flow in different gifts and talents and God-given purposes, because that’s what God needs for that moment. And we need to know and be aware of ourselves, when we’re ready and when we’re not ready. The Bible says it doesn’t matter, in season or not, you need to be ready. And you might not think you’re ready, but you know what? If you’re heart is pure before the Lord, then it’s like, “Lord, I’m here to serve.”

Every day, I encourage you and I invite you to wake up in the morning and pray, “Lord, help me be a blessing to everyone. Help me bring the best out of everyone.” That’s what I started praying for you, instead of having God change you, because that used to be my prayer. I didn’t know any better—“Change her.” Seriously. You know, that’s a wrong prayer, by the way.

Mama Z: Yea, that was a really wrong prayer.

Dr. Z: You know what? It wasn’t like, “Change her to do this and be this.” It became, “God, help me bring the best out of my wife,” because I realized I had this uncanny ability to bring the best or worst out of you. I want to bring the best out of you, and visa versa.

Mama Z: Well, I’ll never forget when we really were getting somewhere. You said, “You know what? I only thing you’re wrong seventy-five percent of the time, instead of a hundred percent of the time now.” I thought, “Wow! We are really making it somewhere.”

Dr. Z: Hah, hah, hah! That’s progress. That was progress. Now I only think you’re wrong fifty percent of the time. We’re doing good!”

Mama Z: Hah, hah!

Dr. Z: We share the equal wrong. Anyway, we love y’all. We really do. We appreciate you so much. And we hope that you’ve been inspired. And again, if you’re listening to these podcasts and if you wonder, “What are they talking about, the Bible, Jesus, salvation.” You know, you can email us. You can just go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com, join our newsletter, get our email, and say, “Hey, I want to learn more about Christ.” We have people on the team that can help you, get on the phone, and pray with you.

We are a for-profit ministry. We are not a non-profit. We are people who have businesses like everyone else does. But we love Jesus, and this is our ministry. So, we definitely have no separation between church and state here. We are all one. And we want to help you. We want to help you find your God-given purpose in Christ. And we want to help you get united with Christ and live the life that you’re called to live.

 

[55:31 – 57:00] Natural Living Tip: Start a Self-Discovery Journal

Mama Z: Yes. And to wrap up today’s show, we have a natural living tip for you.

Dr. Z: So, to help you on your talent and gift-seeking journey, we invite you to start a self-discovery journal, and even a passion inventory. So, right now, put down the date, get a pad of paper, and write down what are the things that you’re most passionate for. And I would even say if you could, rank them, zero being not passionate at all, and ten being like, “Man, I’d give up my life for this stuff.” And it could be anything. It could be anything at all. But start with your passions. Start with your desires.

And also, think about who you are. Think about who you are in Christ in context to your passion inventory. We know, like we talked about in the show, you “delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” But first you need to quantify and qualify what these desires are.

And then what you do is you start doing some self-discovery and pray, “God, what do these desires mean about me? Are there areas where there are gifts or talents or purpose.” And, here’s the key, “How can I start to fulfill this?” So, you have these desires, and then you start to find ways where you could serve and help and live it out in a very practical way.

And then track. Track your progress. Track your experiences. Track what you feel God is saying to you in your prayer closet, in the quiet times of your prayer, mediation, and fasting. And you know, have that child-like expectation, like God is going to do some great things, because He will.

 

[57:01 – 57:47] Sponsor Spotlight: Thrive Market

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Mama Z: Simply go to NaturalLivingFamilypodcast.com to find the special link so you can redeem this deal on the show notes from today’s episode.

 

[57:48 – end] Episode WrapUp

Dr. Z: Well, thank you for listening everyone. We hope you enjoyed the show. And as a reminder, you can find all of the Natural Living family podcast episodes, show notes, and transcripts on NaturalLivingFamilyPodcast.com. And while on our website, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly podcast newsletter, which includes a personal invite to join our private Facebook group, so you can connect with Mama Z and me one on one and meet thousands of other natural living lovers just like you. And don’t forget. Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review. We love hearing what you have to say about our show. And who knows? We might read your review next episode. Well, as always, this is Dr. Z.

Mama Z: And Mama Z.

Dr. Z: And our hope and prayer are that you and your family truly experience the abundant life. God bless y’all. Bye bye.

Mama Z: Bye, bye.