Life Hack #5 - Get Busy

Life Hack #5:

Skill is the ability, coming from one's knowledge, practice, and aptitude, to do something well - even to the point of excelling at whatever it is you are called to do. There is a sense of confidence as the tasks are performed - ability revealed in complete dexterity to perform the functions required. Skill might be a learned thing - but it could be an innate aptitude to "just do it" - their aptitude revealing their ability consistently. You've heard it said, "maybe they are born with it", but some have to work quite hard to develop the same level of skill that the individual with "innate aptitude" just seems to slip right into. The skilled worker is in high demand - because they can be counted on to perform at a consistent level of "output". As scripture puts it, "they will serve before kings" - because the best of talent rises to the top, doesn't it?

Observe people who are good at their work—skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a backseat to anyone. (Proverbs 22:29)

We need to take notice of those who possess "skill" for the work they are called to perform - for we can learn much from them if we will just begin to see their 'talent' through eyes willing to learn from what we observe. Did you know that the original meaning of "skilled" was actually one who exhibited understanding or discernment? When we are observing someone who has "understanding" of a task at hand, we are able to see how they process the "pieces" of the task and handle them with such ease. In learning from their "understanding" of the task - the things they discern about the phases of that task - we can learn to undertake similar tasks, as well.

There is an opportunity to serve afforded to each of us, but we need to develop our understanding and discernment of the tasks ahead of us. As we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we want to keep in mind his overriding authority in our lives. We don't serve just because we "have" to, but because it is an honor to use our skill for his glory. The "reason" for our service is not to bring glory to ourselves, but to give all glory to the one who gives us the ability to perform these tasks in the first place. Where we choose to serve makes a huge difference. It is a tremendous thing to be in a position to use what God has given you to the fullest ability each and every day. 

When I come across an individual who says they have "no skill" or "aptitude" - maybe they call it not having any "talent" - I know this is not possible because each of us is created with an aptitude of some sort, we often just haven't tapped into it yet! We need to ask God to reveal to us what it is we have a "bent" toward - this is often the beginning of the revelation of what our "skill set" might just be. If we want to serve and serve well, we need to know what "skills" we can best bring to the table, don't we? God's word reminds us that we "have not because we ask not". We lack wisdom of our aptitude because we don't ask him to reveal it to us. When we finally ask, he is faithful to reveal. Just sayin!

Buried treasures

Invest what you have, because after a while you will get a return. (Ecclesiastes 11:1)

I have frequently heard people say they have nothing to give - nothing to bring into a circumstance that THEY feel will be of any value. Instead of giving what they have and allowing God to INCREASE the value of what they bring, they just stand idly by. If we want to ever see an increase of what we have been given, we must invest it. As a young adult, raising wee kiddos, my financial circumstances were not the best. I had a hard time making ends meet from time to time, but never went without. I trusted God to bring the increase, but I invested what I could into the process. What I had was my two hands, a strong back, and a will to work. That is what I could invest. It might have meant long hours of picking weeds for $3/hour at times and rising way before dawn to deliver papers in the dark of night, but we never went without.

There are times we feel what we have won't really matter - it isn't 'significant' or 'earth-shattering'. If you have ever tried to raise a wall alone, you know the value of 'spare hands'. If you have ever tried to move 15 tons of gravel into your yard by nightfall, you know the value of a few extra wheelbarrows and a couple of strong neighbors. What we 'have' may not seem like much, but when employed as God gave us the ability to employ those talents and treasures, there will be a profound multiplication of what we have been given. It is easy to sit on the sidelines and say we 'can't', but it is likely we are saying we 'won't' instead. Learn to use what God created within you and you might just become the biggest blessing to another.

Invest wisely - this is a principle we must each learn. Do you remember the story in scripture of several men entrusted with a sum of money by their master? One invested the five bags of gold and yielded an additional five bags, while another invested the two bags he had been given and yielded double for his master. The one who had been entrusted with one bag of gold merely hid it, too scared to invest what he had been given. All he had to offer upon his master's return was one bag of gold. The master was disappointed because he had entrusted the servant with this gift, and it was not used. Whether we are entrusted with much or little, we are to use what we have been given. We know not the 'yield' that will be realized, but if we just 'bury' what we have been given, we will never realize any greater yield. Just sayin!