Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you
in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I
appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
From these two verses, we can see that God knows us better
than we know ourselves. He knows us before we were even born, and he knows how
our story will end. He knows our beginning and our ending, so of course He knows
the story that is in between it too.
He knows what kind of mistakes we will make and He knows
what sins we will fall into. Sometimes it makes me wonder, if God knows we
might grow up into sinners, into liars, into drunkards, into drug addicts, then
why does He still create us? Why would He want to populate the world with this
sinful nature?
Because God doesn’t look at our faults, He sees the talents
and gifts in us that are unique and special to each individual.
Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I
am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
What is it that we need to know ‘full well’? The fact that
we are fearfully and wonderfully made; no one is created the same. Many of us
don’t realize what we are capable of and sees our own presence as the lonely
dust among the great Sahara desert. It is the devil’s whisper that tells you
that you worthless, useless, unoriginal, and ordinary. But that is NOT true!
Don’t listen to the sly enemy. Cause if you give in to those lies, you are
letting the enemy take you further and further away from the potential that God
sees in you.
1. Be Aware of Who You Are
Understand that no two people are created the same. Even
twins; they may look similar, but their personalities and talents are
different. When God created us, He didn’t play copy paste. He even knows how
many hair strands we have on our hair. Truly, our God is a God of detail. And
for ever single one of us, He has given us specific talents, hobbies, and
strengths.
1 Corinthians 12:14-18
Even so the body is
not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am
not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop
being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an
eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part
of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of
hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell
be? But in fact God has placed the parts in
the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
What God has chosen for us is specific to every
individual. And it is not by mistake,
because it is just as he wanted it to
be. We need to realize where we are; a unique place that is specifically
selected just for us.
2. Accept What You Can Do
The devil likes to shift our focus from what we can do to
what we can not do. Don’t give in. Don’t
look at what you don’t have, but look at what you do have. The devil is
gleeful whenever we are envious of other people. The truth is, you will never
be satisfied if you look at other people’s life.
Someone with no vehicle is jealous of someone with a bike.
Someone with a bike is jealous of someone with a motorcycle. Someone with a
motorcycle is jealous of someone with a cra. Somemone with a car is jealous of
someone with a private jet. And the person in the private jet just wishes she
could take a relaxing walk. The cycle continues; you will never be satisfied with your life until you choose to be
content with what you have.
Maybe we are envious of others, but there are other people
who are envious of us too. Maybe because we are so used to our talents and it
is fairly easy for us to do, we start to take it for granted. Even when you
think your talent might be small or useless. Don’t ever underestimate your
talent, because not everyone can do what you do.
Fun fact! Did you know that the pinky toe, the smallest body
part that is often overlooked and deemed is useless, is actually the body part
that keeps our entire body balanced? Without that small ‘useless’ pinky toe, we
wouldn’t even be able to walk straight. So don’t take anything for granted. The smallest things can make the biggest
impact.
3. Adapt/Apply it In Your Life
Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of
the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither
do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way,
let your light shine before others, that they may see your good
deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
The talents given to us aren’t to benefit ourselves; it’s to
benefit others so we can lead them to glorify our Father in heaven.
Do you remember the parable of the talents? (Read Matthew 25
if you don’t). Reading that, I was so confused why the man was so angry with
the servant who did not multiply the one talent. Though he may not have gained
anything, he didn’t lose it either. So why was he consumed in so much anger and
even curse the servant as a lazy and wicked servant?
The answer lies in this verse:
Matthew 25:18
But the man who had
received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and
hid his master’s money.
In Matthew 5:15, the Bible says “do not light a lamp and put
it under a bowl.” Basically it translates to: Do not put it in a place that
can’t be seen. Now what did the third servant do? Put it in a place where no
one can see it. How can you be a blessing when no one can see it?
There are times when we might be scared because we know that
there are other people who can do what we do, but far better than us. So what’s
the point of us doing it? Again, don’t compare yourself with other people. If
you really want to compare, then compare it to yourself. Are you better
compared to “you” a year ago?
For example, I love music and I love to sing. But I still
sing offtune a lot and am lacking in so many aspects. Does it mean I give up
and throw away my passion? No. I keep practicing. I learn how to harmonize. I
learn how to play musical instruments. I learn how to write songs. Does this
makes me the best of the best? No. I know I won’t ever surpass Beyonce or
Adele, but at least I know I am improving. Today,
I am a better version of myself compared to who I was a year ago.
Your talent is like a seed. You start of small, but it
doesn’t mean it will stay a seed forever. If you give it water and nurture it,
it will eventually grow into a tree. It will bear fruit that other people can
enjoy. Same with our talents. Because in
the end, the talent is not to benefit ourselves, but to benefit others.
So everything seems like it has a happy ending now, but
enter the devil, ready with those malicious lies up his sleeves. This time it
will say, “You say you wanna bless a lot of people, bless a whole nation… But
only a few people benefit from your talent. What a hypcocrite.”
This is very true for me as I have experienced this not so
long ago. Aside from music, I LOVE to write fictional stories that contains a
good moral message. One of my stories only got about 30 readers eventhough I
think it has a good message. I couldn’t help but to compare it to another story
that is about free sex, rape, drugs, and all those stuff, yet it has about 3000
subscribers. So I asked God, why? This is unfair. And His answer amazed me:
It is better to impact
one person’s life to be better, rather
than have a thousand people enjoy it and forget it the next day.
Back to my story, I took a peek at the comment section of
the stories whereby readers can leave their impression. The story with 3000
subscribers wrote things like “this is awesome!” “So cool! I love it!” Yes,
very positive and there is nothing wrong with those comments. But among the 30
readers I have, they left comments too. “This story is really inspirational and
I feel like I can learn so much from it.” “I was about to give up on my
passion, but this helped me to keep pursuing.” “I was having such a bad and
stressful day, but this helped put a smile on my face.”
Trust me when I say that having one person tell you you have
inspired them, it is worth so much more
than a thousand people saying that what you’re doing is cool. In the end, we
want to influence others, so do not be bothered by the number. If God wants
someone to benefit or be blessed with the things you do, then trust that He wil
lead the person to you. God will give
you the right audience. I am not boasting about my stories, because I wrote
them for Him, to glorify Him, and to benefit others. It is thanks to Him I can
write.
So don’t listen to the devil’s lies. You need to be aware of
who you really are, accept what you can do, and apply it in your life. Be secure with yourself. You never know
when you happen to inspire others with the things you do. God created you to be
you, and not anyone else. Know who you are and what you can do.
Then, you will unlock the potential that God has placed in
you all along.
