After reading 1 Peter 4:10 from the NIV you might wonder what "God's grace in its various forms" means. What are His "various forms” of grace?
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.
When I was in school, I had to take a class that was seemingly unrelated to what I was taking. I was not training to be an engineer, but I had to take an engineering class. The instructor made a comment one day that has stuck with me to this day. He said, "The problem is the problem.” That sounded kind of strange, but then he added, “When you find the problem, the solution will come easy." Of course he was talking about finding the real issue, the source of the problems.
I was just thinking about the various gifts (talents) that God has given to me, and one of those is that I am able to find the source of most mechanical problems, which allows me to fix that problem.
My mind turned to the spiritual problems in my life, and I realized that the core of the PROBLEM is my heart. It is exceedingly wicked, but I cannot change my heart any more than a leopard can change his spots. The Bible gives us the solution to the problem in Romans 12:2 (NLT) though. It says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."
So that's the SOLUTION! God can take away my desire to sin. He can change the way I think, and so all I have to do for that to happen is to ask for a clean heart. Then, because that clean heart is what I REALLY, REALLY want, I need to obey every prompt from God to do the right thing while I wait for my clean heart.
The various forms of God's grace then include EVERY GOOD thing (in and out of this world). It would include the talents and skills He has provided us with, but also the visible things such as water and trees, the sun, moon, and stars. It would also include the invisible things like light and air, electricity and gravity, and of course all the gifts of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control).
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
God is ALWAYS GOOD! He gives only good gifts. He only wants good for you, and so EVERYTHING He does for you is for your good. Ask God for His help, and then trust that He will do exactly that.
Even if you don't feel like God has answered you at all, what is happening is a good thing. (Sometimes "NO" is a good thing, right?) Just keep asking and watching, and someday you WILL see and understand His good answer.
