Unprofitable or Faithful

The other day, I was folding a pile of laundry on my bed, fresh from the dryer. And as they often are, my thoughts were busy as well as my hands. I was thinking about how short time is... So close we are to the gates of eternity.... I don't realize myself how close we are, and oh how many there are who don't even know this hope of eternal life exists...

And I asked myself, as I often do, 'What are YOU doing about it? 'Oh..', I sighed inwardly, '..not nearly enough..'

You see, I have an enemy, that whispers in my ear constantly, that I am not good enough to do anything for a Holy God, and that He can't use ME, because I don't have many talents, and I fail Him so often, returning to my earthly treasures... fools gold, as I call it, those things which  give nothing but even more pain and despair.

As my thoughts were running down this, "I'm no good" sort of path, God entered in.. and stoped them dead in their tracks! Praise Him!

This is what He whispered to me...

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Ohhh Wow!

At that moment, this verse which the Lord interrupted my thoughts with, came crashing in with such force that I'm not sure what you would have seen if you were watching me at that moment... probably I was staring at the wall, my hands still holding something I was folding, totally struck by those incredible words I'd heard before, but never really considered as meant for ME.

And as if one wasn't enough He sent others crashing in right after the other. Yes, these exact words..

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.   ...for when I am weak, then am I strong. " 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

"For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee; fear thou not I will help thee." Isaiah 40:31

"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper..." Hebrews 13:6

'So yes,' He whispered, 'you may be nothing, and are, but I am everything.. And I'm here for you. I want to hold your hand, to be your helper, to be your strength... to be your everything.'

 My heart melted within me... 'Yes Lord, You're so right, I've been all wrong, terribly wrong'.

A few mornings later, I lay in bed. I could hear morning worship taking place in the living room. Sick with whooping cough, I had gotten much less than 4 hours of sleep that night. Coughing all night, til around 3:30 in the morning, when I finally somehow collapsed in utter exhaustion...

 When I heard the voices of my family in the living room, I could hardly believe it was morning, in fact I didn't want it to be...

But I was awake now, groggy, but awake. The voice of my younger brother drifted through the kitchen, into my bedroom, to my half asleep ears. 'It must be his turn for worship this morning' I thought.

He was reading the parable about the talents, in the book of Matthew.

As I was thinking about the story in the parable, my mind turned to the servant who was only given one talent. The other two servants, the one who was given five talents, and the other who was given two, were both faithful with them, and their talents multiplied. But the servant who was only given one talent, went and dug a hole, and buried it.

 I stared out my window, as I  pondered over what this servant had done. The babble of conversation in the living room faded from my hearing, as I considered this unfaithful servant, and myself.

'Lord,' I questioned, 'Is that what I have done? Buried the talents you have given me? For surely you have at least given me one.'

My dear brothers and Sisters, and fellow servants, what are we doing with the talent(s) the Lord has given us, His servants? This is the question I had to ask myself that morning.
Have we buried them, or used them for our own self glory? Oh, I don't know about you, but I do not want the terrible fate of that unfaithful servant one day.

"And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness.." Matthew 25:30

So, I know I'm nothing. Weak and unworthy. And so it may be that I've been entrusted with but one talent. But I want to claim the absolutely precious promises the Lord has given us, and unbury my talent out of the dusty dirt, and let Him polish it, making it shine for His honor and glory! Oh how dare I do anything less...

How about you?

Let's just do it my friends! We've got nothing to lose. In fact, we've got everything to win!