For obvious reasons, Peter wasn’t a very good writer. He wasn’t good enough.
After worship on Sunday morning, Peter leaned back in his seat, hoping the sermon wouldn’t be too long. Or boring.
“The Kingdom of Heaven,” the preacher said, “is like a master who gave money to his servants—ten talents to one, five talents to another, one talent to a third man. The master expected them to put their talents to use, but one man was afraid, hid his money in the ground, and was condemned.”
The preacher made his point: God doesn’t demand results, so Peter shouldn’t fear, because having nothing to show for his effort wasn’t possible. The preacher didn’t use Peter’s name, but it sure felt like he had. Peter squirmed after hearing that he didn’t have to be concerned about results. That wasn’t what God required. All God required was to put his talents to good use.
The preacher seemed to be looking directly at Peter when he said, “Here’s what God says in Isaiah 55:11: So shall my word be, when it leaves my mouth—always producing results, always fulfilling my purpose. It cannot fail.” Both talent and planning were overrated. People thought success came from planning their work and working their plan, but that was often a blueprint for failure, with millions of individuals and businesses filing for bankruptcy each year.
“Everybody has talents,” the preacher said. “You have a story that needs to be told, so get busy with your writing and forget about it being good enough. Just keep using what little talent you have, and God will help it grow. Don’t worry about the results. He will take care of that. Don’t worry about failure, because your words are sure to change a life somewhere. God’s success is guaranteed.”
