Psalms 139:14

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.

Masters champion Patrick Reed was born to be a professional golfer. He was a golf prodigy. Not only was he born with a gift, he lived it as a young child. As many other prodigies, he didn’t have the same childhood and teenage years as you and I. As a child, he played his golf in pants and was an intense competitor. Tiger Woods had a similar childhood. These types were so determined to becoming the best, they sacrificed going out with friends on Friday nights for late night practice sessions. Instead of playing video games after school, they practiced chipping and putting. Even though they have a God-given talent, they had to put forth the practice to develop and hone their superior gifts. We all know the childhood friend who could write computer programs in the 4th grade. God created all of us perfect for his design and desire for our lives. Few of us have the natural talent and discipline to become a professional athlete no matter how much we practice. We were created wonderfully and none of our talents are to be taken for granted. We were created to be carpenters, welders, doctors, teachers and preachers of the word. I worked with a 70 year old carpenter who had a 5th grade education. Despite no formalized teaching, he was able to calculate the precise location of wall studs and placement of roof trusses without any calculator or cell phone app. He “showed his work” by performing his calculations on a discarded 2×4 with a carpenter’s pencil. We all have specialized talents and gifts from above for which we are to utilize and glorify his name. First, we must prayerfully seek God to help us identify our talent. Some are more evident to us than others. Second, we must embrace the talent and put forth the effort to maximize the potential for our gift or talent. God’s word strongly warns against wasting our gifts and talents. In Matthew 25:28, Jesus took a man’s wasted one talent and gave it to him with ten talents. My prayer is to always be honing my spiritual talents. They were not given to me by accident or by chance. She may deem herself insignificant, but that 85 year old lady who never misses a church service has a valuable talent. She doesn’t sing solos or teach a Sunday school class, but has the gift of a long life of dedication!