I Used Everything You Gave Me

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, 'I used everything you gave me'."
~Erma Bombeck

This quote packs a wallop. God gives so much that we simply take for granted. Too often we think only the likes of Van Gogh or whoever is currently topping the music charts or gracing the silver screen has talent. We're just here muddling through.

The reality of this quote is twofold, however. First, “not have a single bit of talent left,” and second, “I used everything you gave me.”

Some days, getting out of bed is the best we can offer. Other days, maybe it's pouring milk over cereal with a smile we simply do not feel or propping someone up as they struggle. One day, maybe a concerto will spring forth, or an oil on canvas happens. The thing is, some days we whisper, some days we sing. “The gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase,” St. Rose of Lima.

Ultimately, it's all about growing you, your best you. Letting the light that is uniquely you shine. Van Gogh didn't just miraculously paint haystacks one day, he stared at them until his eyes hurt; in shadow, rain, and sun, he traipsed through the mud, and you know what to stand in the field amongst them. The thing is, to see the fruits of our talent, we must hone it, which takes using everything, the mud and muck, the exhaustion, the shadow, the rain, and yes, the glorious sunshine.

My Painting 101 professor explained that in a good painting, especially a landscape, there should be at least a tiny drop of pure white and a tiny drop of pitch black to help orient our eyes to all the other colors and their hues, to give them perspective and place. It is the same with our lives. Those dark spots are the challenges and lessons, the stepping stones that grow us and force us to stretch toward the light, to better appreciate it and how it refracts the colors that brighten our days.

Throughout our lives, there will be many days when we feel we have nothing left, but the grace of God abounds if we accept it. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians proclaimed, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me,” (Corinthians, 15:10). The fact is that talent is not enough and it never will be. We must choose to grow it, hone it, use it, persist through the challenges and obstacles, and fight for our rights and opportunities to utilize it. In Isaiah, the Lord assures us, “…I am the LORD, your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, do not fear, I will help you,” (Isaiah 41:13).