Sister Yadah Mambo
Mathew 25:14-30
The parable of the talents speaks of how a master entrusts some valuable items to his workers. Although the distribution of the talents was unequal, each worker was given in proportion to what they could handle. In the story, we see that two of the workers multiplied what they had, whereas the one servant went to hide what was entrusted to him. There are many lessons in the story from which we can learn. All the servants were given something from the master regardless of the quantity, which is the case with us.
God has given something to each of us. It does not matter how big or small the gift might be; if it is used effectively, it will yield much. We should not despise the gift that God has given us. One gift used is better than a million gifts that are not used well. Notice that the master did not instruct the servants on how to use the gifts, yet two of the servants could multiply, and the other failed even to invest the talent given to him. The difference between those that multiplied and the one that went to hide his gift is the value they placed on what was given to them.
Anything God gives us has the potential to multiply, but we must value it. Placing value on something makes a difference in whether it will bear results or not. We should not neglect nor despise what God has given us; rather, we ought to step forward in faith and do something with it because God causes the increase; He promotes. We are always to remember that our gifts can be the stepping stone that leads us to promotion.
Promotion does not necessarily happen overnight; many times it is a journey that takes more than just a night. But with every journey, there is a fear that comes before the journey commences and another which comes during the journey, and that is due to the unknown. The story of Jonah truly illustrates the fear that comes before the journey [Jonah 1:1-11]. When the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, the next thing that he did was to take a ship to a city in the opposite direction to where God was sending him; Jonah was fearful because he did not have full control of the situation.
The fear before the journey often comes from a place of hurt, where past experience blurs our vision from seeing positive outcomes. In many cases, we behave like Jonah and flee in the opposite direction. We do so because we already assumed the worse of the situation. Not healing from pain can take away the joy that comes with the journey of promotion. We should not allow the pain of the past to detour us on the road to promotion.
The love of God for our lives is so great that we should rely on it rather than fear that the worst will happen – perfect love casts out fear. Jonah felt like he was not the one to bring the message of repentance and destruction, and similarly we may feel that we cannot go further or that we are not qualified. When God called Moses, he had many reasons why he was not the right person to be the liberator and that he wasn’t good enough for the mission. God asked him, ‘What do you have?’ and he replied that he had a staff. Then God asked him to use it. We need to step up to the task that we are being asked to do; we must truly trust God because He will use what we have for His glory. So, we should not be held back by fear of the enormity of the task, but take it on confidently, knowing that we are doing it in obedience to God.
In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus told His disciples to travel with Him across the sea by boat, and in the middle of the journey, they encountered a storm. There is a contrast in reactions between Jesus and the disciples. The disciples panicked and went into a frenzy because of the storm; on the other hand, Jesus was sleeping in the middle of it all; He was not surprised that there was a storm.
This shows that even when we overcome the fear that comes before the journey, there is a fear that comes during the journey. But we can learn from the story that we ought to be calm even in the middle of a storm. Whatever challenges we encounter during the journey may be a surprise to us but not to God. Challenges allow us to reflect God’s nature and not shy away from fear. God spoke to the formless world, Jesus spoke to the wind and wave to be calm, and it happened, and we ought to speak. The difference between Jonah and Jesus is that Jonah slept because he was running away from his problems, whereas Jesus slept because He was peacefully resting. Let us decide in our hearts to walk away from fear and rest in God because He is the one that told us to crossover to the other side.
