Use Your God-Given Gifts, Don't Bury Them

My most recent television watching obsession is cooking competition shows. One would think that it’s because I’m a culinary expert. However, my husband, Brandon, is the cook in our family. I only cook if he’s out of town or on his deathbed, and even then, it’ll be something pretty basic (he’s in bad luck if I’m cooking his last meal).

My favorite cooking competition show is Next Level Chef. If you haven’t seen it, the premise is wild. At the start of each round, a giant platform loaded with ingredients moves through three different floors of kitchens. The contestants have only a few seconds to grab what they can before the platform descends to the next level. Sometimes someone snags lobster, polenta, and some lovely produce. Other times someone ends up getting Spam, Cheetos, and a can of pineapple, wondering how in the world they are going to make a gourmet dish out of those. It doesn’t matter what you grab, the judges still expect you to make something great out of whatever is sitting in front of you.

And here’s the thing–contestants don’t just give up when they are handed “bad” ingredients. They may want better ingredients, but the clock is ticking, the burners are hot, and the expectation is clear–create something masterful with what you have. Some of the most impressive dishes have come from some of the most unlikely combinations. It’s not because the ingredients were better, it’s because the chef decided to use them creatively.

In life, we’re often looking around at someone else’s resources, skills, or experience, and it’s difficult not to compare. It can feel like they got the “lobster round” while we’re standing here with cow tongue and raisins. But life doesn’t really pause for comparison. We’re handed what’s in front of us–our time, our gifts, our relationships, our resources, our circumstances, and we’re tasked to do something meaningful with what we have. We get to use what we have to be a part of God’s amazing story of redemption!

I think we’re meant to challenge ourselves by asking the question, “What all do I have that God can use for good?” It may be big things or even the smallest of things. In the end, the question isn’t what ended up on your station, it’s what you did once it was there. Life isn’t always about having the best ingredients. It’s about stepping up to the counter, looking at what’s been placed in your hands, and choosing to make something beautiful of it.