Sweet Spot

Focal Verse: “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (1 Cor. 12:7 CEV).

I just finished reading Max Lucado’s book Cure for the Common Life. Before opening the cover (and after only reading the title), I fully expected the book to be about contentment. After all, whom of us after living the same routine day after day, week after week, doesn’t need a healthy dose of contentment?

After opening the cover, however, I discovered that my assumptions were incorrect. While contentment is something we can all use a little more of, Max went beyond teaching us to be content with where we are and gently pushed his readers to reevaluate whether we are living in our sweet spot.

Sweet spot. According to Max, our sweet spot is “a zone, a region, a life precinct in which you were made to dwell. He tailed the curves of your life to fit an empty space in his jigsaw puzzle. And life makes sense when you find your spot.”

You see, God didn’t create us to tarry on in a mundane life, day after day, just to get by. He made us to live in our sweet spot, where we will use the talents and interests he gave us to glorify him and to have fun doing it!

Do you know your sweet spot? If not, look at your life. What do you do well? What brings you joy? You’ll find your sweet spot when you identify the things you do well that you also love.

Once you’ve identified your sweet spot, realize that God created you in this special way to glorify him. “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (1 Cor. 12:7 CEV).

Sure, God will call us to do things on occasion that aren't necessarily in our sweet spot. But he will also equip us for those tasks. I'm convinced he has called us to "live" in our sweet spot, and "visit" those places that aren't.

Let me give you an example. My "sweet spot" is studying, writing, teaching, and organizing events (not to be confused with organizing the house, as my husband would quickly point out). If I had it my way, every second of every day would be spent on these tasks, and I would be happily serving God in the area he called me to live. But there are times when God calls me to do things not in my sweet spot. For instance, when Drew was a few months old, I noticed that the same three couples were rotating in our church nursery during the morning worship service. I felt bad that these couples were missing out on worship every three weeks. Now I'll tell you that although I love my baby, working in the nursery is far from my sweet spot. But I saw the need and my husband and I agreed to put ourselves on the rotation. It wasn't easy. In fact, it got harder. When we signed up, another couple dropped out, and at the same time there was a "baby boom" of sorts in our church, so four people ended up having to be in the nursery most weeks. This meant that those of us who helped in the nursery ended up working in it 2 out of every 3 weeks, which was not a fun job for me. Yet, the need was there. God was bringing in new couples with babies, and this was a ministry we needed to help with.

Yes, sometimes true servanthood will require sacrifices and it won't always be the most desirable tasks. After all, I doubt Jesus felt that feet-washing was his sweet spot. What if he allowed someone else to take on that task while he continued in his sweet spot of teaching? If we see a need that God calls us to meet that doesn't fit with our sweet spot, we are not to excuse ourselves from the responsibility.

But I'm convinced that God called us to spend most of our time and energy serving in the areas in which we were equipped. As Paul says, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully" (Romans 12:6-8).

By identifying our sweet spot, we first recognize that God is the author of it. He is the one who gave us these talents, abilities, and desires, for His purpose. Then we can seek where God wants to use these gifts. Finally, when we are living in our sweet spot, we are enjoying the life God created for us and we're serving and glorifying Him. What could be sweeter?