During the Covid pandemic, while the world was on lockdown, people had a lot of time on their hands. They had to stay home when they used to go out. Some people took that as an opportunity to rediscover their hidden talents, hone their skills and develop their talents. I watched several videos and read stories of how people were investing their time into these things. Their lives had become so busy before the pandemic that they quit practicing or using these skills and eventually forgot they had them. The pandemic gave almost all of us a rare opportunity to reset our schedules, manage our time better and rediscover ourselves. Once it ended though, most of us went back to living the way we were before it. We forgot the lessons learned and put our talents on the back burner again.
Genesis 26 starts off by telling us there was a great famine that caused people to move, including Isaac. God told him not to go to Egypt, but to stay in the same country. When he arrived to the area the Lord told him to go, he found favor with the king and purchased land. When he planted crops, God gave him 100 times more than he planted. The Philistines were jealous and filled his wells with dirt. Verses 17-18 say that Isaac moved to the valley and reopened the wells his father had dug, but the Philistines and filled up after his death. There were fights and struggles over it, but he kept unplugging them until he had enough water for his people and flocks.
1 Timothy 4:14-15 says, “Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress” (NLT). Each of us have plugged up wells in our lives. These wells are spiritual gifts, talents and skills that we were given to serve the Lord with. We’ve allowed them to be plugged up by our schedule, our mismanagement of time and daily distractions. It’s time to redig those wells and give your attention to them so that you make progress in them once again. You weren’t created to make a living. Your God given purpose lies in the gifts and talents He gave you. Unplug those wells and use them for His purposes once again. That’s were you will find fulfillment and purpose for your life.
Photo by Thắng-Nhật Trần from Pexels.
Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 