“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’  Matthew 25:24-25 NIV

Fear of unexpected outcomes have caused many people into a paralysis of action. A young man may not know if a girl will go out with him or not, so he never asks. You want to apply for a new job, but you are afraid of rejection again, so you never send in the application. Your boss has a short temper, so you keep your mouth shut about helpful info that might be criticized.

The gold in our story is representative of talents or gifts that have been entrusted to workers for them to steward for their master. The focus is not so much on the amount of talents given, but the exercising of the stewardship of the gifts. Two men took what was given and doubled it for their master. Out of fear, the last servant did nothing.

There are two questions to ask on this Fear Not Friday. Can you identify all of the talents and giftings that God has entrusted to you? Secondly are you stewarding those talents to the best of your abilities? There will be a day coming for you to give an account for the way you live in answering these two questions.

  1. Identify your gifts and talents – The Holy Spirit gives gifts as He determines, we need to learn to acknowledge the talents that we have been entrusted to use.
    1. Some have the gift of making money, with the correlation being that you would be a good giver to needs. 
    2. Some have talents for meeting people easily. These would be helpful for hospitality, evangelism and encouragement.
    3. Some are skilled with your hands, find ways to serve others who are in need.
  2. Don’t be afraid to steward your gift by faith. When you feel a nudge by the Holy Spirit, take the risk and respond in faith. He wants to lead you into that which is good. Ask for His help to identify fears that lead you to be a poor steward.
    1. Is there a conversation that you have been avoiding, that would heal a relationship?
    2. Is there an action that you have continually shelved because you are waiting for the right time?
    3. Is there a person that you were supposed to help, but have failed to make it happen?

All giftings and talents are from God for us to steward for His glory and honor. They become the flower garden that we nurture so that we have a beautiful bouquet of flowers to offer to him when we are finished. Gardening and weeding take work, but there is much joy with having that bouquet to offer to our Savior when all is said and done.

Don’t let fear of accountability move you to paralysis. Ask God to stir up faith  and action to steward your talents well.

Blessings Love y’all