Head VS. Heart

Last night I was reading a post from a fellow blogger, Ihagh G. T.  . In his post he revisited on of my favorite stories in the Bible. Matthew 25:15-29 “The Parable of the Talents”, It reads:

The Parable of the Talents

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Footnotes:

A talent was a monetary unit worth about twenty years’ wages for a laborer

Though it is one of my favorite verses, every time I read it I would get scared. It scared me because quite often I feel like I am hiding my talents in the ground. Not intentionally, but mostly because as a “jack of all trades” I have had a hard time determining which talent it is that God wants me to focus on. I feel like the old saying, “jack of all trades, master of none”, was written hundreds of years ago specifically for me. For years I have repeated that saying over and over in my head and each time I did, I felt worse about myself. It has been a debilitating thorn in my self-worth and passion since the first time someone used that label on me. What should I do? Which skill should I master? Why can’t I focus? Why can’t I find my one thing like everybody else? God, what do you want me to do? I tried everything to figure out exactly what it is that I am supposed to do. Coaching, school, books, videos, workshops you name it and in my quest, I have only become more and more confused.

Today, I opened Proverbs 16 and although several verses spoke to me, it was verse 9, that really caught my attention.  “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”  When I read this verse I saw the word “hearts”. Maybe because it is Valentine’s Day or maybe because I went to sleep last night asking God and my new found friend, Ihagh G. T., for an answer, today the word “hearts” appeared to me as though I had never seen it before.

Immediately, I knew what I had long been missing and the answer was quite simple. Over the past decades, the search for my life’s purpose never made its way from my HEAD, to my HEART. In my head, I worried about how much money I could make, If I was capable ,if it was a good idea, what people would think about me and of course if the path I was considering was what God wanted me to do. Seldom did I consult my heart and if I did, I would quickly dismiss its calling in favor of all the noise in my head.

Speaking of my head, remember that old saying that I carried around and allowed to cripple me for years? (“a jack of all trades a master of none”) Well, it turns out that when I searched the origin of that saying this morning, I had it wrong. It turns out that while it is used today to describe someone who lacks focus, the original saying was actually a COMPLIMENT!!! When I read that, I just about fell out of my chair and smacked my head on my desk! The original saying actually read,  “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” The phrase means that a person is a generalist rather than a specialist, versatile and adept at many things. Perspective changes everything, with the new definition in mind, I am PROUD to be a “jack of all trades”. In fact, it is almost like all the specialists were jealous and decided to belittle us by changing the phrase to their liking!

As it turns out, now I realize that being a “jack of all trades” IS the talent God gave me, it is NOT a curse. The answer to what I have sought for so long will be found where my heart, not my head, intersects with talents. Once I fully engage my heart, as Proverbs 16:9 states, “the Lord WILL establish my steps”.

How about you, are you using your talents, while following your heart or are you listening to noise in your head?

Have a Great Day!

Kevin