CHAPTER TWO
YOUR TALENT IS A POINTER TO YOUR ASSIGNMENT
“For I would, that all men were even as myself. But everyman hath his special gift of God; one after this manner and another after that” (1 Corinthians 7:7)
You have an assignment. You are not an accidental creature. You are not on earth because your dad met your mum. You were born because an agenda was created and God ordained you to spearhead the accomplishment of that agenda.
The talent you have is a resource that God has deposited in you to equip you for the agenda. Cherish your talents, nurture them and deploy them. Lt. Dr Myles Munroe said in one of his books and I paraphrase; “the cemetery is the richest place on earth.” Why? In my opinion, it’s because many people died without discovering, developing and deploying their talents.
Apostle Paul in the text above said everyone has his own gift “one after this manner and another after that.” That means we all have different talents. My talent differs from yours; because we have different assignments. There’s no point trying to copy someone else because your reason for existence differs from everyone else.
That’s why when students talk, you hear one person say “I hate Maths”; and then another one says “I love it but I hate Biology.” A third person comes in and says “you’ve got to be kidding, because Geography is my favourite.” Everyone has a different ability because everyone has a different destiny; simple!
God Works With Varieties
Imagine if everybody on earth were musicians; no doctors, no lawyers, no pastors, no teachers, nothing else; just musicians. There would be chaos. When people have a headache, they would die, because no doctor. If everybody was a sportsman, there would be no spectator. If everybody was a preacher, there would be no members. God created several gifts because there are several needs. There are varieties of gifting. Your own talent is an answer to someone else’ need!
I Need Yours and You Need Mine
Recently I watched a documentary of how the “Burj al Arab” (world tallest hotel) was built in Dubai. Hundreds of millions of dollars went into the project. But there was a variety of skills on display and a lot of professionals in different areas of construction had to come together to make the project work.
First, an architect was needed to design the iconic structure, and then engineers in land reclamation were called upon to create an artificial island because the edifice was built a few meters into the ocean. When the building commenced, brick layers were needed, then electricians, then plumbers, interior decorators, painters, carpenters, and so on.
Everyone had a different assignment based on their several abilities. However, they all worked together to make the building stand. Without the brick layer, there would be no structure for the electrician to work on; and without the architect, there would be no idea for the brick layer to implement. It’s simple!
We all have different abilities, but we need each other. When a teacher is sick, he or she needs a doctor. When a doctor has a child, he needs the teacher to educate the child. Talents are given to service other people’s needs to the glory of God.
Copy No One!
Many people fail because they try to copy others. I said earlier that you need not copy anyone because you have a unique assignment. It was tagged on your life before you were born. No one else has it. Therefore you don’t have to try to be someone else. It’s ok to admire endowments you see in others; but focus on developing yours.
In the mid 2000’s, a number of popular Nigerian actors were banned for a year because they were charging outrageous sums of money to do movies. That year, more than half of them decided to go into music –just to show that they weren’t moved by the ban. However, majority of them flopped. They were fantastic actors but woeful singers. Some of them sang so terribly I felt for them. I heard one of them sing and I actually thought she was coughing. They were trying to copy other talents they never had.