Matthew’s account of the Parable of the Talents is
a great example of what can happen when we do nothing. Let’s look at this
parable using God given talents and abilities versus money. Now there was one servant
who only had one talent and she buried it in the ground. In other words she did
nothing to increase or enhance it. And when she was called to give account, she
said she was afraid so she hid it, and her master told her she was lazy. Therefore
her talent was taken away and given to another servant who had really invested
time and hard work in increasing and developing the talents she had been given.
(see Matt 25:14-28 NKJ)
No one stole anything from her—she negated whatever
greatness could have come from her talent by doing nothing.
Our own lack of self-confidence and fear of failure tries to
convince us we need more of this, or if we only had that, then we could move
forward. Lies! All lies!! Starting where
you are and with what you have are the best places to begin. No matter how
small a beginning it might be.
Being a writer, I share a lot of information with people and
encourage them in their writing and other ventures. Why? Because I know that
what I am working on is for Ponscella and Ponscella alone. There is not one
person who can take it from me, so I’m not afraid to share. In fact, I’m
planting good seed for myself at the same time. Also, any ideas I have as a
writer have been given to my through God, which means He could use me to pass
it on to someone else, instead of hold it for myself.
This brings to mind something I would love to see more of in
the Body of Christ, and that is as sisters we share and encourage each other
more. It seems jealousy, envy, covetousness and a general spirit of fear keeps
us from being cheerleads for one another as we should.
Of course I wasn’t always so confident in God and I didn’t totally
understand that what God has for me is mine, so I do understand the fear of
self-doubt and lack of confidence one can experience where God is concerned. I know
exactly how it hinders and paralyzes us into doing nothing. But I also know the
spirit of fear is a liar and does not come from God. And with the revelation of
who we truly are in Christ, we are set free from this fear. We become confident
to move forward in life. This confidence in the Lord also helps us to share
freely and be happy for our sisters as they excel in God’s grace.
I do hate to say this, but some of us want what others have
but don’t want to put in the time, work or energy to get it. We want to ride on
the coattails of others. A helping hand can be a welcome sight, but if you don’t
do your own research and work you will miss out. I share a lot of information
with people and vise versa, but often I find things that pertain just to me and
what I am trying to achieve. As should be! I’m putting in the work. So remember
girls—hard work does pay off!
As a writer, I come in contact with a lot of other writers,
and one thing writers do, is write! We don’t talk about writing—we write! You
may not be published yet, but you still write, because that is what writers do.
But if you are one who feels you have a talent to write, yet you are not
writing on a regular bases and sharpening your craft and talent, then is it
possible you are being like the servant who hid her talent out of fear or
laziness? If so, we all know what
happened to her.
Girls, stop being afraid of failure, rejection or anything
else fear drums up in your heart. Stop making excuses as to why you are sitting
still instead of moving forward. Stop talking about what you are going to do or
what you did 3 years ago and move forward!
I used writing as an example because I’m a writer and speak
from the heart and life experience, but your talent could be something totally
different. I have a friend who is a single mom and homeschooled her daughter while
running her own cleaning service. When her daughter finished school, she closed
her business, found a job so she could fulfill a dream and go back to school to
become certified in TESOL hoping to travel the world teaching English as a
second language. This woman is loaded with God given talents and abilities and
she continues to develop them with each changing season in her life. This should
be the norm for all of God’s daughters, not they exception!
Sisters, get serious about what it is God has given you to
work with. Don’t sit on it, don’t hide it! The world says, “You need a higher
education, more money or you’re too old.” God says, “All you need is Me!”
At age 61, I am going for it!! I am not letting any voice
that is not that of the Good Shepherd talk me out of that which God has
designed for me. I will not be lazy or lackadaisical and have God take what He
has given me and give it to someone else. Nope…I’m on a mission to fulfill my
God given destiny.
What about you?
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