YOUR WORK IS BORN WITH YOU

“Ultimately, discovering and using our talents – at work or anywhere else – is one of the most important aspects of what is called “divine guidance.” As followers of Christ, one of our basic duties is to discern God’s will for our lives – as Paul says, to “find out what pleases the Lord” (Ephesians 5:10). Many Christians are aware of this concept for day-to-day matters, praying that the Lord will “direct our steps” through the small choices that we make each hour. Still others will pray for guidance when confronted with a major decision: whom to marry, where to go to school.

Yet many of us do not ask the “macro-questions” of divine guidance: What would You have me to do with my life? How can I maximize the time and talents I have to Your glory. These questions seem daunting to us, perhaps even presumptuous. Yet the answers to such large questions can usually guide us through many of the smaller, day-to-day decisions.

When my father was teaching me how to drive, we once came to a “T” intersection with a stop sign. Having to turn either right or left, I asked Dad which way he wanted me to go…I simply wanted to hear “right” or “left”…My father’s answer was emphatic: “Where are you going?”

In other words, dad wanted me to consider my ultimate destination. This would, in turn, usually dictate the answers to the many “sub-questions” along the way – such as which way to turn at this intersection. He helped me to see that every time I plan to go somewhere, my long-term destination has to be kept in mind when making the short-term decisions of left or right turns.

…How does one find such mega-direction? An important step is to consider the talents the Lord has given you. Imagine a farm where the farmhands are sent out into the fields to work, each with various tools. Would it not seem odd if one with a shovel banged it repeatedly against a tree? Or if one with an axe tried to use it to dig up the ground? Obviously, if you have been given a shovel, you are supposed to dig. If you have been given an axe, chop down a tree. As the poet James Russell Lowell reminds us, “No man is born into the world whose work is not born with him.”

If God has given you certain talents, it is rather likely that they have something to do with your ultimate purpose in life. Granted, you may enter seasons when they are placed temporarily on the shelf. Like Isaac on the altar, we may be called to die to our talents and potential. But the general principle remains in place: You have specific gifts for a divine reason.”