God’s Anointing

(Shelter From the Storm)

By Brendalyn Crudup Martin

      Every child of God has an anointing on his or her life. Yet many never fulfill that anointing. There are many reasons why.

      We lack faith in ourselves and do not realize that God does not call the equipped, He equips the called. God does not call us because we are so beautiful, so smart, so honest, so talented, so gracious, and so full of virtue.

He equips us with those abilities so that we can answer His call and fulfill His anointing on our lives.

      We make excuses that we are too young, too old, to busy, too sick. Like Moses, we say that we cannot speak well and therefore cannot proclaim God’s Word effectively.

      When God called Jeremiah, He told him that He knew him before he was in his mother's womb. He was just a boy when he first felt God's anointing on his life and just like many others, he doubted himself. He felt he was too young to be effectively used by God.

He had an anointing on his life, but if he had listened to his own doubts instead of to the voice of God, he would never have fulfilled his prophetic calling.

      Recently a friend sent me an e-mail that stated we should all use the gifts we are given. Some of us try to use gifts we don't have, while neglecting our true gifts. Not using our anointing is like having a bottle of medicine that will cure all our ills but we never take it, never even bother to open it. It’s just there. 

      Or like receiving a gift that we never unwrap and therefore can never use or enjoy. It is wasted. If we never use our anointing, it is as if we told God we do not want His gift. But how do we know what our anointing is? Sometimes we listen to others who have no more clue about it than we do.

      A young woman felt a call for mission work and decided to become a missionary so she could serve the Lord. She was preparing to go when she received news that her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car crash, leaving four children behind. 

She had a decision to make. Take care of her sister’s children or answer her call to be a missionary.

      She put her plans aside and took on the responsibility of raising these children and when they were all grown, she was able to look back in pride. Why?  Three of the four children went on to become missionaries and serve the Lord. Instead of one missionary spreading His Word, God received three.

      So what was her anointing? I believe it truly was missionary work. Her mission was the four children she raised and her teaching helped them to recognize their anointing to take their missionary work out into the world.

      We have to recognize that everyone’s anointing is not earth shattering. Everyone will not become the leader of the band. Some lead, some follow. Some preach, some teach, some exhort.

      In I Samuel beginning at the 9^th verse, we read about Saul and his anointing.. Samuel-1 9:1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name [was] Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

Samuel-1 9:2 And he had a son, whose name [was] Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and [there was] not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward [he was] higher than any of the people.

      Now Saul’s father, Kish had sent Saul and a servant to look for some of his livestock that was missing. On his journey Samuel decided to seek out the prophet, Samuel and ask him for direction. The Lord had revealed to Samuel the day before that Saul would be coming,

      Until this time they had judges that gave them the Word, but now they wanted a king.   Samuel took Saul and his servant home with him and fed them and had words with Saul and the next morning when they arose, he had Saul to send his servant on ahead of them so he could show Saul the Word of God. Samuel 1 9:27

      Now Samuel gave Saul some instructions to follow (10:2-5) which eventually lead him to the hill of God where he would meet a company of prophets who would prophesy.

      Samuel-1 10:6 And the spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

      Samuel-1 10:9 And it was [so], that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

      The rest of the chapter tells how Samuel called the people together and presented Saul to them as their king. Now if you read the rest of Samuel, you’ll see how Saul started out doing well, but in time did not effectively use his anointing and in chapter 16 we read where God chose another to replace him.

      So we see that we have a responsibility to use our anointing wisely. Just because God gave it to us does not mean we do what ever we want and still expect to be sheltered from the storm.

      We need to pray and listen to God’s Word not man’s when operating within our anointing. Sometimes good people with good intentions can lead you astray, because they do not recognize your anointing. 

Sometimes even the people of God can be blinded by the physical appearance and not recognize the true anointing.

      Look at Samuel. When God sent him to anoint the future king, He did not give him a name. He only knew it was a son of Jesse. David was just a boy, but his heart was filled with the love of God.

      Samuel-1 16:12 . . .Now he [was] ruddy, [and] withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he.

Samuel-1 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

Samuel-1 16:14 But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

      We need to stop taking our gifts for granted, for just as they are given to us, if we misuse them, they can be taken away. When we chose to serve God and turn from our wicked ways, we must also accept our anointing, our shelter from the storm.