Nothing to Fear?

I was talking to Leslie this weekend (my wife, her pic is just to your right there) and we got into a discussion about courageous decisions versus cowardly decisions. Actually, as the discussion went the Courageous thing to do was to make a decision and stick to it, while the more cowardly thing was to not make a decision and still hope for the best. So, you must be asking yourself, "What decision are you talking about?!?!" In general, we were discussing the decision to find out just how talented you are.

There is a story in the Gospels where Jesus talks about three servants, each given some talents and told to use them wisely. One servant got 5 talents, another received 2, and the last was handed 1 talent. The moral to the story was that God expects us to take what we have been given and invest it; gaining Him a good return.

The underlying story here is that there are One talent people out there and there are Five talent people out there. While God may see no real difference between the two... that is not so much the case for us humans. And, that is where cowardice can rear its ugly head. It happens in two distinct ways.

I don't think I can be a Five Talent person! This person refuses to seek God's specific direction for their lives when making their life goals and says things like, "I will accomplish whatever God has planned for me to accomplish." So, when talking about how big their ministry will be, how many lives they will touch, what their community will look like in 5 years... well it is all in God's hands, and I will be as successful as He wants me to be. While that may be true in parts, it is also cowardly. What if God wanted to look at you like Noah and say, "Here is where I want to take you and your family in the coming years... get ready for a crazy ride!" The coward avoids that conversation because he is afraid of what God may ask, afraid of failing God in such a big calling, or even afraid of others seeing him as too proud or boastful because of his calling.

I know I am not a One Talent person! This person refuses to recognize God's design for their life. They often get caught up day-dreaming about the Five Talent people they know and wondering when their shot is going to come. They don't bother fully investing themselves in their current One Talent life, because surely God is just waiting to fully reveal His plan. Surely He could not intend for them to live in this place, this job, this circle of friends. Surely this is just temporary, a holding place, or a training place until they reach their true calling.

I think that our lives are played out like a huge construction site. On that site you have the HUGE earth movers and cranes. You also have some smaller bobcats and personal-power machines. Then you have guys with shovels. If you talk to the person in charge of the operation he would tell you that all of those parts are necessary. There are just some jobs that the Crane cannot do. Even the smaller front-end loader cannot get everywhere you need to work. Sometimes the whole operation can get stopped... waiting on one guy with a shovel to do what only he can do.

I asked the question that night, "Am I afraid to answer God's call if I am a Five Talent person? Or, am I afraid to hear Him say He wants me to be the best One Talent person I can be?" The answer reveals much about who I really am and who I believe God is.