You have identified "exhortation" as a gift you have from God. That unusual word means to appeal to, urge, entreat, comfort, encourage or cheer. The Greek word for an "exhorter" gives our English word "Paraclete," a term Jesus applied also to the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). Using our spiritual gifts is spiritual work and God is interested in helping us to do that well. Ask him each day to show you who among your contacts will benefit from some encouragement or cheering up, who can use a message of comfort, who needs a word of urging or entreaty to be all that God has made them to be. A great thing about spiritual gifts is that they are given to ordinary people, to be used to bless other regular people. They don't require special training, licensing or anyone's permission to be used. Spiritual gifts are given for use in the course of normal human life as we live it.
God taught me many years ago that just as he sovereignly gives spiritual
gifts, he also sovereignly provides occasions for their use according to his own
plan. I am still learning that lesson after more than four decades of
preaching and teaching. We sometimes worry too much about having a particular
venue for ministry, a special title or official recognition. The real question,
as God once asked me, is this: "Have you been faithful with what you have been
given?" God's calling is important. For that very reason, it is also
important to let God show us how he wants us to fulfill that calling. Watchman
Nee, the 20th century Chinese apostle and martyr, said it well: "If there is
anything a servant has the right to expect from a master it is to receive
directions." Like Jesus, wake each morning to serve God and he will show you the
way (Isa. 50:4-10).
For more on divine guidance, click
here.
For more on the gender issue, click
here.