Ability

Topics without scriptures: Abigail.

First off, the Church is awesome as far as utilizing the internet. They have this website about/for Christmas that is pretty cool. :)

For this topic there was only four scriptures. All of them can pretty well be summed up as: God doesn't expect us to do more than our ability, but he does expect us to live up to what we can do.

Lately, I've been having a difficult time figuring out what I'm suppose to do with my life. I know "be good" and "serve others" - but as far as knowing what to do with my time specifically from when I wake up in the morning to when I go to sleep - has been pretty difficult for me. This is partially due to a chronic illness I have that makes it difficult for me to do some things - but only on some days. I wake up every morning not knowing what I'll be able to do - so how can I make goals or plans for a year from now? How can I make commitments when I don't even know what I'll be capable of an hour from now? Needless to say, the above extraction from my study is more than just a good idea - it is a challenge for me to practically apply it every minute of my life.

In Matthew 25:15 it says

15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

This is from the parable of the Talents - where a rich man gives some money to each of his servants before he goes away on a journey. When he gets back he finds out that the first two servants had invested their money and had doubled what he had originally given them, making him very pleased with them. But the last servant was so scared of losing his talent that he buried it in the ground - and the rich man was mad at him.

What has God given me? What are my abilities and "talents"? When I'm really sick and can do little more than sit in bed, I start making a mental list of what I CAN do. The list might be short compared to what I could do before I became sick, but all because some days I have only 1 talent as opposed to 5 talents, God still expects me not to waste my life away in bed.

As Christmas is approaching, I've been thinking of "what can I do" a lot more - as I'm sure lots of people are. How can I make a difference? I can't go out and visit the poor and needy, but I can facebook a friend, call someone to see how they are doing, write a letter or volunteer my home for others to make cookies to give to people. These are little things, but they are a whole lot more than just sitting my bed, watching TV and waiting for the day to finally be over with the hope that I'll be healthy to live up to my expectations - when really I should be thinking more about what are God's expectations for how I live out each day.