Christine Olding

Are you one of those people with a variety of seemingly conflicting interests? Do you love to dance but also love math? Or perhaps you love animals, but also love building things and playing the trumpet. Do you have a pastor’s heart with a love for fishing and business? Maybe you want to be a doctor but also love singing. The God who created the universe also created you, and you are not boring! The incredible variety in creation was not just reserved for rainforests, oceans and the stars in the sky, but was displayed most perfectly in you.

Most of us, when we were children, displayed a variety of interests and talents. We could ride bikes, draw, or speak, and write well. Maybe we loved counting, building and measuring things. Or maybe we spent our time quietly and deeply thinking and feeling, observing and learning. Whatever the giftings and interests we have revealed God’s gifts to us. Part of who He created us to be and a sign of how much He was invested in creating us. Like an expensive car, God created each of us with all sorts of beautiful additions!

Now fast forward to school, or better yet the end of high school. Now you are expected to choose. Out of all the interests your heavenly Father gave you, you need to pick one and invest in that one, become that identity. And you get bonus points and respect if it will make you a lot of money. Highschool is 30 years ago for me and I can still feel the pressure of feeling like I needed to choose what I would be investing the majority of my time and money into at 18. I was told by , school, parents and well-meaning people in my life that I simply could not invest in all my interests and talents. That I should pick one, preferably the one that made the most money, then make my other talents hobbies. That would set me up for the most financial success and security, while not sacrificing who I was too much. But I basically had too many interests, so I had to choose which I would be.
Can anyone relate to this? Didi God make a mistake? Should our heavenly Father have just given us one or two interests, making sure of course that they were financially viable ones? Then we could fit with the system. 
No, of course not. God didn’t look at you and say, “Oops, I gave them too many interests, now they will have to ignore most of them and pick one.” And God certainly didn’t evaluate how He made us based on whether or not we could be financially secure. , He may have made us financially savvy, but I guarantee you in wasn’t for your own security. He wants to be that Himself.
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Matthew 6:19-21 
“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”


So what do we do with the display of God’s variety inside each of us? Well to start with, God didn’t make a mistake. He displayed His variety and creativity in His creation and also in us. He wants us to celebrate that variety. He has a plan, and He has His timing and purpose. So ask Him a very important question. 
“What do you want me to invest into now?”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:


The Father didn’t create you with too many interests and talents. But neither did He expect you to play Wack-a-Mole trying to hit them all at the same time. God will weave them together in His perfect timing. All you need to do is ask Him what He wants you to invest in to now. Then relax, knowing the rest of your interests will get attention and be invested into as long as you keep following the Father’s plan for your life, and let His voice be the only voice that guides you.
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Letting the Father weave the beautiful variety of your giftings in the tapestry He has planned for you is one of the most exciting and faith-building journeys I can recommend. He’s got you!

Christine Olding

​Have you ever struggled with the everpopular question, what do you want to do with your life? The pressure to make a decision, to pick something, anything. Somehow, we are miraculously expected to know what we are going to do with our life by the time we leave high school. Then we can choose a post-secondary activity like college, an apprenticeship, university, something that shows we have decided what we are going to do, how we are going to live, make money, pay for housing, food, possibly prepare for a family and be responsible financially.

Whew.... STRESS

But where is God in this? Is He one of the voices wanting us to pick a direction? Is He asking us to decide what we are going to be in our lives so we are set up for financial security? Anyone who has gone to Bible college, ministry school or even Sunday school can blurt out some version of the answer here.

31. So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33


What an awesome promise! … So where is God when we are making plans and decisions? I am well known for asking people “If you had a million dollars, and were not worried about money, what do you think God would want you to be doing?” I ask it this way because it is sadly sometimes easier to picture ourselves without money worries if we have a fat bank account, than if we picture ourselves trusting God. Only without worry and stress can we sit in peace with our Father and ask Him, "What would you have me do?” God never planned us to go it alone without Him, struggling to make sure we had enough money by ourselves; He wants to partner with us, as a loving Father. 

“'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. '”
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Only when financial security is replaced with Father-based security can we really hear the answer to our question, “Who did you make me to be? And what do you want me to be doing now?” And trust that if we do put Him first, ahead of our money fears and the pressure to look responsible in the world’s eyes, He will provide what we need as we partner with Him. 

Have we slipped into letting our desire for financial security be louder than the Father’s voice? Have we believed the Enemy’s lies that say that if we put God first in everything we won’t have enough? That giving God our direction and choices isn’t practical in our lives, that God doesn’t realize we have bills to pay? This is actually the complete opposite of what Jesus is saying in Matthew!

The trap of pursuing security in finances is you constantly have to chase it and manage it to feel any security at all. As soon as you stop chasing it and putting it first the security leaves you.
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Whereas the Father is the one doing the chasing, running after you with an offer of security, partnership and identity. He will never stop offering that security, He will always be there to partner with you if you choose His family.  He already knows who He created you to be and He can’t wait to talk with you about. You don’t have to create yourself!