THAT UNRECOGNIZED TALENT
By Jeanette Lockerbie,

With a shrug of her shoulders, Anne quipped, "I must have been behind the door when the talents were given out.

"Perhaps we would all like to disclaim our God-given abilities at times, for with ability comes responsibility, according to the parable of Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30.

It may take another Christian to pinpoint for us a particular talent we have. For instance in the course of speaking at a meeting, I started, "I'm a one-talent person," by way of encouraging my hearers to use whatever talent(s) they had. Well, the meeting was scarcely over when a young woman dashed up to me and said, "That's not true what you said tonight." Goodness me, I said to myself, what lie did I tell? Then she proceeded to enlighten me. "I know about your writing and other things you do, but the best part is that you're good at sitting by the fire and being a friend."

It's evident then that we can be using a talent even when we don't recognize that we possess it. How encouraged I felt that evening, but not only so, I've tried with the Holy Spirit's help to sense when "just sitting by the fire and being a friend" was what God required of me.We might spend a profitable hour with a few friends just helping one another recognize some of the areas of special ability each one of us has been given. By such simple means we can enlighten and encourage one another. This is no time for excuses such as, "I can't do...this or that." Rather, it can be a fruitful time for uncovering our areas of ability.

Perhaps we could have had some choice as to which gift or ability would be ours. Maybe we would gladly trade ours off for something that has more appeal for us. But our all-wise God has apportioned His gifts as He wills, and one day He will require from each of us an accounting of our use of those gifts.If you and I really want to be used by our Lord, it will pay us to ferret out what our particular ability is, then get busy putting it to use.A good question to ask ourselves is this: If I don't do this today, who will?