The Courage to Try

We all have talents and gifts that God has given us. For Esther, a young Jewish woman living in the capital of the Persian empire, that gift was extraordinary beauty. Sometimes those who are the most beautiful or the most handsome also are the shallowest. But that certainly was not the case with Esther. She had a great inner life as well. She had inner character. She took what God had given her, and she used it. She also demonstrated great courage and intelligence in the face of adversity.

Some people are talented musically (and some people think they are talented musically). Some people are talented artists. Some people are good at crunching numbers. Other people are good at building things. Some are great visionaries but may not be so adept at the practical, while others are detail-oriented but not really big on vision.

Sometimes the way to discover what your gifts are is through the process of elimination. Walt Disney, a visionary himself, used to tell a story about a little boy who lived in a certain town. A circus arrived one day, and they were going to have a parade. The bandmaster needed someone to play the trombone, so the little boy volunteered. However, the boy hadn’t marched a block before the horrible racket coming from his horn caused two elderly ladies to faint and a horse to run away.

The agitated bandmaster asked the boy, "Why didn’t you tell me that you couldn’t play the trombone?"

"How did I know?" the boy answered. "I’ve never tried before!"

Sometimes you just have to give something a try. Whatever your gifts may be, find them. Discover them. Cultivate them. And then use them, because there is a place in the church for you. We all have something to do.