"To Whom Much Is Given Shall Much Be Required."

After this event things seemed to be different somehow. I would find verses of Scripture that stood out and challenged me about song writing and singing. I collected them all because I believed the Lord was using them to communicate His will and His plan for my life. I placed each one of them in a little book I bought specifically for this purpose and entitled it “Speak Lord, thy servant heareth.” (1 Samuel 3: 9.)

As time went on I would often resort to this little book and pray over the verses it contained. It seemed the more I prayed, the more convicted I became and I was given more and more verses of encouragement and guidance. I also found other writings I thought would be helpful and took extracts from my journal that helped to build up a clearer picture of the Lord's will for me.

Contemplating these words before the Lord I wrote in my journal in 1992: "what is that in my hand?" I have many talents, skills, and abilities in my hands. I have the ability to compose music. I can sing. And now I have a newly discovered gift of poetry and song writing, as well as the many precious thoughts and meditations that I have written and collected during my quiet times alone with the Lord. The waiting has been so very long and hard at times but many lessons have been learned along the way. While I have been waiting I have been storing up for future use the things I know that the Lord will one day make use of. May He be pleased to help me to be faithful ...”

A short while after that particular day there came to me another challenge from the Gospel of Matthew - the parable of the talents. The Lord spoke of a man who went into a far country, and he left with his servants a certain amount of talents for each them to invest as they seemed fit. To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two and to another he gave one, and then went on his journey. Those with five and two talents went and invested what they had and it doubled in value. The servant who was left with only one talent went and hid it in the earth out of sight until the return of his master. Upon the master's return he who had been entrusted with the five talents had five more to give back to his Master. Likewise with the one unto whom was given two talents. But he who only had the one to take care of hid it away safely and gave it back when his master returned. (Nothing lost but nothing gained either!) The Master was pleased with the servants who gave back to him his talents with increase but with the one who returned the talent with no extra he voiced his great displeasure and sent him away with shame. (See Matthew 25: 14 – 30)

I thought to myself: “I have been entrusted with many talents. I cannot, and must not be like the one who was afraid, but I want to be a faithful steward of all He has given to me because when all is said and done I have to answer to Him and Him alone for all that I am and all that I have” I was mindful of the words of the Lord who said: “To whom much is given shall much be required” Luke 24: 48. When I stand before my Lord one day soon, I dare not come before Him empty handed. I cannot tell Him that: “I was afraid and hid my talents away,”  because I was aware that my ‘many talents' were God given. I also had a growing collection of His promises and instructions of which these were some: