God gathers up your talents for His glory

At one time I was not able to use my talents and training in the way I had hoped. Although I had college degrees that had led to many years of fruitful work, I felt I still had more to give. When I returned to college later in life, a previously unrecognized talent surfaced that gave me enormous satisfaction. I earned a degree in graphic design.

I felt strongly that God had revealed this talent to me, but after graduating I was only a decade away from an age at which people commonly retire. My prospects for securing a graphic design position seemed slim. Three years of searching in this highly competitive field passed without success. But these were not wasted years.

During this time, I gained a new, more spiritual perspective on work. I learned that my real job and purpose were to reflect God by living divine qualities, including the qualities I associated with graphic design: I could always be fully engaged in expressing order, beauty, originality, intelligence, and love. Glorifying God took on fresh meaning as I acknowledged Him as the sole source of these qualities. God was not neglecting me; rather, He was consistently revealing inspired ideas.

I felt encouraged knowing that Christ Jesus’ healing work showed that no life could be wasted and that no one could be deprived of their God-given purpose. Jesus wasn’t deterred by a problem being long-standing: He healed a man paralyzed for 38 years as well as one who had been blind since birth.

From Jesus’ example, I knew that periods of discouragement could not hinder my demonstration of proper and fulfilling employment. Instead, they served as opportunities to listen more carefully for God’s direction.

One day, I received a strong message from God that it was time for me to find full-time employment. Shortly after, I met a neighbor on his way to a job interview. Despite having an advanced academic degree, he was applying for a job stocking shelves in a local store. Inspired by his humility, I applied at a temporary job agency and was given an assignment that required graphic design skills. After a year on this job, I learned of a permanent graphic design position that was available.

I applied for the job and was quickly hired. For the position, I needed experience with some new software, which I had just learned on the temporary assignment. God’s control was evident in the match between my skills and the job requirements. Not only did my diverse skills meet the needs of the company, but the company met my desire to use the full variety of my skills on the job, and I joyously worked there until my late retirement.

One day, I read the following Bible passage: “I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; ... even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory” (Isaiah 43:5, 7). It felt to me that God had given me every talent I possessed and then gathered them up­ – brought them together – for His glory.

The Bible shows how Jesus’ talents were gathered up to glorify God through his healing ministry. Listening to the religious teachers in the Temple at age 12, he demonstrated his grasp of God’s Word and asked questions that astonished these well-educated men. Jesus’ discourse with the scholars suggests a desire to both deepen his divine understanding and share it, which directly impacted his career and life purpose.

In more recent centuries, God gathered up the talents and experiences of Mary Baker Eddy, preparing the way for her discovery of how Christ Jesus healed. Even before Mrs. Eddy had made her discovery of the divine law of healing, she was demonstrating an innate ability to heal as she sought to understand this healing law. As she writes in the textbook of Christian Science, “God had been graciously preparing me during many years for the reception of this final revelation of the absolute divine Principle of scientific mental healing” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 107).

We all have a multitude of God-given talents to be gathered up for His glory – for our satisfaction and to benefit others at God’s direction. God did this in Jesus’ day and in Mrs. Eddy’s, and He is doing this today – for you and me.

Adapted from an article published in the Mar. 20, 2023, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.