We’ve all been there. At some point, almost all of us have been asked, ‘what do you want to do with your life?’.
Maybe some of you have known exactly what you want to do since the day you were born. (Okay, maybe not the day you were born but you get the idea!). Some of us though, have meandered through life, not really sure where we’re going, or what we’re made to do.
I’m definitely in the second category. For a long time, I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. It’s really only been in recent years (months even!) that I’ve come to have a better grasp of what I believe to be God’s calling on my life.
Calling.
I’m hesitant to use that word. I don’t know about you, but when I hear people talking about their ‘calling’ I think, wow they must be super holy. They must have a direct line to God that I don’t, if they know exactly what they are ‘called’ to do.
Turns out though, we all have a calling on our lives. As Christians, we all have the same calling.
In Matthew 28:19 we are told to ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ It’s pretty simple really; we are told to spread the Gospel.
This is our calling.
It’s how we live out our calling that looks differently. How we live it out is dependent on what God has placed in our hands to further His Kingdom and what we choose to do with it.
Take the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. We read about a man who is going on a journey; he entrusted each of his servants with a number of talents. The first servant was given 5 talents. He went away and traded with them and made 5 more talents. The second servant was given 2 talents and he made two talents more. The third servant was given1 talent, but he was afraid and he went and hid it in the ground. He didn’t do anything with his talents.
God has given each of us a different type of ‘talents’, a gifting and skill set. We each have different passions. You are unique. You could be a teacher, or great with admin (unfortunately not me!) or a really good listener, or a great communicator or a brilliant writer or…
The list is endless.
In the parable of the talents, each servant was given a different amount of talents. It’s not what talent, or how many talents you’re given that’s important, it’s whether and how you choose to use them. When the master gave the talents to his servants, he went away and didn’t tell them what to do with them. The first two men understood that their master loved them and chose to give them life changing resources. They invested their talents, and in using them witnessed massive returns, So when you’re not really sure where you’re headed look at what is in your hands; your passions and your skills.
The Master entrusted the servants with the talents.
Entrusted (definition): Assign the responsibility for doing something to someone or put something into someone’s care or protection.
It’s a privilege to be entrusted with talents, but with that privilege comes with responsibility. We can’t be passive. We are given exactly what we need, often no more, no less, in order to carry out the roles which God has for us. The question is are we using what we’ve been given?
Are we looking at what has been given to us, or are we looking at what has been given to others? Are we using what we’ve been given for our own selfish endeavours, or are we using our talents to bring glory to God? Are we hiding our talents and doing nothing with them?
In Matthew 25 the first servant is told ‘You have been faithful over little; I will set you over much.’ God takes delight in seeing us use our talents to further His Kingdom.
If when we come to the end of our lives God asks us, ‘What did you do with what I entrusted you with?’ will we be able to say we did as much as we could to use what was in our hands to further His Kingdom? Or will we have to admit that in fear, we hid the talents we were given?
What’s in your hands?