That one talent!

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ABILITY. Then he went on his journey..

Matthew 25:14-15

"As surely as the Lord your God lives," she replied, I don't have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a LITTLE oil in a jug...

1st Kings 17:12a

This post is inspired by Jaycee's Smelling the Vases instead of the Roses and LDP and Naked Sha's 'What you have is Enough'. It really got me thinking about how I Believer was making use of what God had deposited in me. I believe that God has deposited something into each and every one of us as seen in the story above. God entrusted his property (the blessing) to all three people, the Bible records that He gave to each one 'according to His ability.' Today, in my prayer time I asked God for forgiveness because I know I am prone to always compare what I'm doing and how I'm doing it by what others are doing and how they are doing it. Today my prayer was Lord God, with that 1 talent I will do the very best that I can. God is a good God, sometimes we think we can handle more, we want more exposure, more opportunities but God knows what our abilities are. A blessing can rapidly become a curse to the one who does not have sufficient strength of character to handle it. We can be useful in the place of affliction but even more than that we must be useful with what we have, where we are. I remember when I started blogging, God told me never to write for comments or to be a 'popular' blogger but to write to encourage, to share my journey, to write what I heard. I pray for His grace to continue on that path in Jesus name. Zoe Believer, seek the face of God and allow Him to make you sensitive to that one talent that He has given you. If you can't recognise it, you won't use it.

"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and HID your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" "You servant has nothing there at all," she said , "except a LITTLE oil"

2nd Kings 4:2

Yeah, so what? You didn't go to Harvard or Oxford, you didn't get a scholarship, you've never been on a plane, you didn't even complete college or get an undergraduate degree, your parents didn't do that much for you. Zoe Believer, I'm in no way making light of the situation that you face for sometimes I get that 'I've been shortchanged feeling' like well others can succeed because they had so much to start with in the first place! The thing is that we can't use that as an excuse for not turning our story around because God has given you the talent, its up to you to invest it in something profitable. God has promised to lead us and show us the way to go but we need to get over ourselves and our excuses and roll up our sleeves and tell God, I may have just the one but I'm going to work it so hard. What is that one talent that you are underestimating, an ability to cook delicious dishes, an ability to get on your knees and intercede, the ability to organise things, writing HTML, singing...A good place to start investing your talent is in the house of God and in the lives of those around you. What have you done in the past 7 days that made someone smile, in the past 3 days, in the last 24 hours? It's in serving that we discover our purpose, don't hide your talent. We can't all have public platforms to showcase our gifts but if you work your one talent, you increase your ability to deal with more.  It's interesting to note that both widows had only a 'little' oil and yet that little combined with the supernatural of God was able to see them through the hard times. You have something and you can make a contribution. Don't hide. I'm talking to myself!

'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Then the Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied

Exodus 4:2

That one talent, who knew it could cause so much trouble, thing is that when you are so busy with your one talent, God begins to create other opportunities, if we could just take our eyes off what other people are doing and focus on what God has for us to be doing, we could achieve so much more. This doesn't mean being complacent for the people with 2 and 5 talents are there to inspire us to do so much more. I'm surprised that the guy with the 1 talent never went to ask the other guys for advice concerning what he should do with his, even if nothing they may have given him one talent and he would have had two! We should be learning from each other, those who compare themselves with themselves are not wise. For every Paul, there is Barnabas, the son of encouragement, standing in the background but still contributing to the Kingdom. That one talent, use it well!

iPray

Dear Father, once again I come before your throne and ask forgiveness concerning unhealthy comparisons I have made in my life. I know that you have given me that one talent and that what I have is enough to fulfill the purpose that you designed me for. So many times, my dissatisfaction comes from wanting to run a race that is different from the one you have designed for me. Lord, open my eyes, remove the wax from my ears, let me be sensitive to the areas of need around me, on the job, in your house, in my family. Help me to express my one talent to the best of my ability in Jesus name. Lord, I want to be the very best for you. Thank you Daddy.