When I was young, I didn’t think too much about what I would look like when I was 52. But here I is. ;-)
However, I sure did have visions of what my life would be like. I was going to work as a pediatrician, marry a handsome man, have 2.5 kids and no dog (you read that right). We’d live in a big, big house with lots and lots of rooms, with a big, big yard where we could play football (#90schristiansong).
I can check off a few of those things:
Married to a handsome man ✔️
No dog ✔️
Our house isn’t big but it’s a good size for the two of us ✔️
Our backyard might be the smallest one on the block, but that’s okay because it turns out that I don’t have a green thumb (which is highly disappointing to my mom). So, we’ll give that one a half-check mark.
The other stuff didn’t quite work out how I thought it would, but all is well! God has been doubly good to me (#another90schristiansong).
As I got older, I realized I had a calling for ministry. At this point, I started having different dreams for my life: More opportunities! More impact! More fruit! After all, isn’t that what success is?
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a master who entrusted varying amounts of his wealth (referred to as talents or gold in some translations) to his servants. One servant got 5 talents, the second servant received 2 talents, and the last servant got 1 talent.
You know the story. The 1-talent servant is rebuked by the master for “burying” it.
The other servants doubled their master’s investment: the 5-talent servant now had 10-talents, the 2-talent servant had 4-talents. Even though there was a big difference in their end results, they both received the same response:
“… ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Matthew 25:23 ESV
You would think the 5-talent servant would receive a little extra praise. After all, he had more fruit, right?
It wasn’t the amount of fruit that pleased the Master. It was the faithfulness.
It’s easy to look around and see others who, according to the world’s standards, are the picture of success. In fact, they may actually have a check mark by their name on social media.
You may wonder where you fit on the talent scale, but that’s not the important part. It’s what you do with what you’ve been given that counts.
Who knows what our lives will look like in another 10, 20 or 50 years? But will we be able to look back and know that we have been faithful with whatever God has put in our hand? If so, we can look forward to hearing one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Because I realized now, that is what I really want.
~ Anu
