Better Than We Thought: When Someone Else Sees It First
This post is part of a short series called Better Than We Thought, flowing out of a recent message I shared at my home church. The heartbeat of this series is simple: often, what God has already given us—faith, calling, formation, even Christ Himself—is deeper, stronger, and more formative than we initially recognize. These reflections are an invitation to slow down, deepen our roots, and learn to see more clearly the work God is already doing in us.
One of the ways we begin to recognize the gifts God has placed in us is when someone else sees it before we do.
That can feel surprising—sometimes even uncomfortable—especially when we don’t yet have language for what we’re carrying. But Scripture is filled with moments where God uses people who have walked the road before us to name what others can’t yet see in themselves.
Think about David. When the prophet Samuel arrived, no one thought to bring David in from the field. But God had already seen what others overlooked. Samuel didn’t create David’s anointing—he simply recognized it.
Paul points to this same dynamic in Ephesians 4, when he describes leaders being given to the Church to equip and build others up. Shepherds and teachers don’t invent gifts; they help identify and develop what God has already placed there.
Sometimes discovering our gifts begins not with clarity, but with trust.
Trusting the voice of someone who has seen this before.
Trusting that God can use others to clarify what He is already doing in us.
Trusting that being recognized doesn’t mean being finished.
If you’re unsure what you’re gifted with, it may be worth asking a simple question:
Who has God placed in my life who might see something in me that I can’t yet see myself?
Better Than We Thought is a series shaped by a simple conviction: God is often doing more in us than we currently have the capacity to recognize. Over the coming posts, we’ll continue to explore how gifts are discovered, how roots are formed, and how faith deepens over time. If you’d like to hear the full message that gave shape to these reflections, you can watch it here.
