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I was talking with a very wise friend the other day and God used her to bring me some revelations. We were talking about our dreams and how life is so unpredictable. I’m getting ready to be married so the next few years of my life will be full of changes (marriage is going to be fantastic :) and it’s easy for me to begin worrying about how all of the pieces will come together. How will my dreams become reality? Will they happen? What if they change? How will my future husband and I balance everything?

She shared with me some lessons that she’s learned about those very things. Talents are often referred to as "gifts." In fact, this term in the church is almost a catch phrase. How many times have you heard, "Use your gifts for God." or "These are my giftings" or "Wow, he/she is so gifted." Until the other day, I never stopped to think about the implications of that word. One definition of GIFT means "something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without it being earned."

That’s what God does for us isn’t it? He gives us dreams, desires, passions, and talents. We don’t do anything to earn them. Yes, at times we cultivate them and work hard to see that they expand but we’ve done nothing to earn them. In that case, isn’t it funny how quickly we take those "gifts" and act as though we have a right to them. In fact, many times we hold them so tightly that any thought of giving them up causes us to lose our hope and many times our identity.

My friend used a great analogy. When you get a present, you hold your hands open. It’s so easy to get "grabby" and take the present, hold it tight, and not let go. This is what I do with the gifts God gives me. I take them and hold onto them so tight that I lose sight of the fact that they were never really mine to begin with. I have to hold them loosely because they can be taken away. My friend pointed out that as soon as we start wrapping our fingers around them and clinging to them so tightly, it hurts so much worse when they are taken away. If I hold on so tight to the things that are "stable" right now and to my dreams and gifts, God’s not able to take what he’s given me and give me something else—something better than I have right now. I don’t want it to hurt anymore.

Another powerful visual for this concept is in nature. Trees are meant to grow so sturdy and majestic but sometimes, they engulf foreign objects around them. One example is when a tree grows around a fence. A tree was never meant to have a fence through the middle of it. Think about how much damage the removal of that fence will do when it needs to be taken away. Ouch. I don’t want my heart to be ripped out every time I’ve taken a gift and made it my identity and security.

Not only are gifts not to be taken for granted, they are to be given away. The very nature of giving gifts is to bless another person. If God gives me a gift, it’s my responsibility to give it away to others around me. Whether God is asking me to give back the gifts he’s given or share it with someone else, I want to hold it loosely, eager to offer it up!