Back in August, I injured my wrist digging holes for an orchard in Southern Utah. I am probably not the best person in the state, the country, or the world to do this work, but as I have told the project manager, I am the most qualified person who will put boots on the ground and pitch in.
There are many people with great talents and abilities all around us. Good leaders are able both to identify them as well as motivate them to put their talents to use. One of the few lessons I learned from "The Fountainhead" is that sometimes great people hold out for great work and hold back their talents. It is however much more common that greatly talented people hide their talents because of fear or because they are lazy.
All of my life, I have striven to be available for God to use me. He has in fact requested that I so do. As a missionary, I traveled in my "uniform", changed for the activity, and then changed back after it was over. I intended to be ready for whatever he might need. God does not really care about your capability; what matters more to him is your availability. Neal A Maxwell wrote: “God gives the picks and shovels to the ‘chosen’ because they are willing to go to work and get callouses on their hands. They may not be the best or most capable, but they are the most available” ( Deposition of a Disciple [1976], 54).
God's work is hard work. Some people get lucky and cast down their nets and draw in a great harvest. Even in that instance, they must have nets, have nets that work, cast them out, and have strength to draw them back in. Even that is hard work.
For those who have to till a more difficult ground, there is backbreaking work with tools ahead. As I dug those holes in Utah with a pick and shovel, I injured my wrist. There was nobody else to do it. The harvest is great and the laborers are few. I was available, so in that moment, I was the best and most capable person in the universe for the task at hand. If you do today what others won't, tomorrow you will be able to do what others can't. Where more capable or talented individuals might have done so, they hid their talent and therefore they have no increase.
Be not weary of hard work. Sweat equity is one of my favorite things, and I love to work. I like the rewards, but I would rather be anxiously engaged than accidentally.
There are many people with great talents and abilities all around us. Good leaders are able both to identify them as well as motivate them to put their talents to use. One of the few lessons I learned from "The Fountainhead" is that sometimes great people hold out for great work and hold back their talents. It is however much more common that greatly talented people hide their talents because of fear or because they are lazy.
All of my life, I have striven to be available for God to use me. He has in fact requested that I so do. As a missionary, I traveled in my "uniform", changed for the activity, and then changed back after it was over. I intended to be ready for whatever he might need. God does not really care about your capability; what matters more to him is your availability. Neal A Maxwell wrote: “God gives the picks and shovels to the ‘chosen’ because they are willing to go to work and get callouses on their hands. They may not be the best or most capable, but they are the most available” ( Deposition of a Disciple [1976], 54).
God's work is hard work. Some people get lucky and cast down their nets and draw in a great harvest. Even in that instance, they must have nets, have nets that work, cast them out, and have strength to draw them back in. Even that is hard work.
For those who have to till a more difficult ground, there is backbreaking work with tools ahead. As I dug those holes in Utah with a pick and shovel, I injured my wrist. There was nobody else to do it. The harvest is great and the laborers are few. I was available, so in that moment, I was the best and most capable person in the universe for the task at hand. If you do today what others won't, tomorrow you will be able to do what others can't. Where more capable or talented individuals might have done so, they hid their talent and therefore they have no increase.
Be not weary of hard work. Sweat equity is one of my favorite things, and I love to work. I like the rewards, but I would rather be anxiously engaged than accidentally.
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