Talents

This week I had the privledge of substitute teaching for the 3rd/4th grade teacher who is in New York City for her best friend's wedding.  What a wonderful experience getting to welcome kids into the classroom each morning, showing them how to graph numbers, write creatively, grow in their vocabulary, enjoy a good piece of literature, understand the causes of the Civil War and the systems of the human body, and encourage one another in their routine tasks.  Every day I was all smiles and loved every minute.  Not one since discipline problem or child that needed even the slightest correction.  They were so pleasant and I was so pleased.  I didn't mind grading a single thing or staying after to complete the tasks that needed to be done the following day. 

It's in the middle of these sorts of experiences when I consider the reason for my being created.  Ever do that?  Ever wonder why you specifically were put on the Earth?  This week I thought about it a lot since I noticed that as I taught, I got more and more excited about the days that loomed ahead.  I didn't wear down at all.  That's where I sat all week, thinking:  I was created to teach--to see the light bulb go on in the mind of the learner.  It's almost like as I pour myself and my mind and my encouragement into these kids, God is pouring Himself and His wisdom and His encouragement into me.  What a great feeling to be put to good use and to know that I have an unlimited amount of reserve.  I can give freely knowing that I won't run out.

I think we quite often live with the opposite mindset.  We give or teach or share or work or whatever with the attitude that we must reserve some of this for ourselves for a rainy day.  Our money or time or energy or resources may run out if we give all we've got.  Yet, if we are doing what God has called us to do (not simply what we want to do or what we have to do), we're letting a lie direct our steps.  We're believing that His resources are limited.  But NO>  God's resources are infinite.  They have no limit.  So, we have to first discern what God has called us to:  are we supposed to be doing the thing we spend hours and hours doing, or are we in it for some other reason?  Then we have to listen to our own thinking about His resources.  Are we holding things back or are we giving all we've got to the things to which we've been called?

The question is, What are we holding back for?  In the Bible, Jesus shares a parable about talents.  You may be already very familiar with it. For those who are not, I'll just say that three people were given talents (money) to invest while their master or employer was gone on a trip.  Two of the three men invested their money wisely while the last one did not. He hid his money away.  When the master returned he questioned the three about how their investments turned out.  He praised the first two for their talents had grown. However, he rebuked the third because this man and his things had been of no use to anyone while the master was away. 

Jesus shared this parable for a reason.  God Himself is the Master and we are those to whom He's given talents.  Are we using them or are we hiding them away?  Are we spending our time blessing others with what we've been given, or are we locking our things and money and skills away for our own sake?  Don't we know that our God, our Master, has an unlimited supply of resources, and that as we give away of ourselves, He'll simply resupply our needs?  He wishes us to live extravagantly and to give generously of ourselves.  He so wants us to consider very well what it is that we've each been entrusted with--knowledge of a certain topic, skills in a certain area, wisdom in how to do something, time or resources, etc--and then decide how we can share that with others. 

I think of those who have adopted, who have volunteered their time, who have served in shelters, who have tutored, who have driven when others needed a lift, who have opened their house up to visitors, who have delivered a meal, who have babysat, who have given their things away to those who had little, and many more things.  Let's all challenge ourselves to consider well how we can bless others.  If you don't know, ask Him.  He knows.  He gave you the talent for a reason. And, he knows just who's out there that needs what you have.  Just ask Him what He wants you to do with it.  Try to give it all way.  I'll bet you can't.  He'll just keep giving you more and more.  Know for sure though you aren't supposed to hide it way. I'm certain it's so you can share it somehow.  And, when you do, you'll be enormously blessed and refilled to overflowing.  That's the way He works.  He's infinite and wonderful. 

Thanks for reading,
blessings, kim