I’m one of those guys that normally don’t think everything through. As a result, I’ve often succeeded in adding insult to injury. I suspect this is part of my make-up, although the consequences may not be so good.

This has taught me to hold back and to make sure that I’m doing the right thing. In the process, I often ask myself whether what I want to do at that moment forms part of my calling. In other words, do I have the skills or set of talents to do it? And then I usually end up with the question: What are my talents?

And it’s a good thing to revisit this question periodically. We should meditate on our talents and our calling. We must reconsider it again and again, so that we can understand exactly what they are and how and where we can use them. If we reflect on our talents and calling like this, they become part of our being and then we can immediately recognise where we must use them. It’s as if we put on glasses. It makes the places where we can use our talents clearly visible in the blurred muddle of life.

In this way, I prevent myself from acting hastily.

When it comes to our talents, this should be our motto: ¹⁵Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. Pull out all the stops to make the talents and calling that you received work there where you are in life.

When you’ve made your mind go over this and your grey matter has formed the picture, you must actively try and realise it. The word that Paul uses here means to completely cover yourself: Immerse yourself in them … I can see in mind the picture of someone completely immersed in water, coming up now and then to breath and smile, because he is so happy and satisfied that he can use his gifts to help others.

And remember, this is not just one section or compartment of your life. You don’t decide sometime in the course of the day to open the door of the gifts room so that your talent can come into your life for a while. No, it must be entwined with your life. It must form part of every second of your life, so that when a promise appears, you don’t even have to look for your gift to fulfil that promise.

So many needs remain needs because people don’t see them. So many promises are not fulfilled, because people get hooked on the question: What talents do I actually have? So much distress is never relieved, because God’s children aren’t walking diligently through life looking for places where their gifts can work.

May this not be true for our world. May the world in which you and I live look different because we know what our talents are. May the picture of our talents be clear in our minds, so that when need crops up, we will immediately see it and with everything in us bring relief.

And while we are doing this, people will not only see us grow, but see what they have to do as well. Our lives make them find their calling and show them how to realise their calling with their talents.

How different life would be if we all do this.

Scripture

1 Timothy 4:6-16

Reflection

Do you know what your calling and talents are?
Do you meditate about them?
Where must they work?

Prayer

Father, I struggle a lot to do this. I struggle to make time to sit quietly and reflect on things. I struggle to make my calling part of my whole being. How will I ever be able to make it work? Please help me, Lord, to do your will. Please help me to see where You want to use me. Please help me to change the world. Amen.