ThAts just the cards i’ve been dealt…or is it?
There’s a popular belief that some people have bought into that whatever hand of cards you’ve been dealt will likely determine the outcome of your life and that you have no control over what the universe brings you.
I’ve been thinking about that for some time now, and it really bothered me because I don’t believe we’re all living according to some cosmic game of cards out here. I prayed about it and was reminded of the parable of the talents which I’ve been meditating on for several weeks now. I’ve been taking notes and I finally have words to share. I hope this encourages you.
Some people make the mistake of thinking life happens 𝐓𝐎 them and they’re indebted (destined?) to live out the “cards” that were dealt to them. But Jesus taught us another way. Consider The Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25. It’s important to note that the story refers to the master as having eight “talents.”
In this passage, talent comes from the Greek word 𝘵á𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘯 which equalled 6,000 Greek and Roman silver coins called drachmas or denarii. So, with those calculations, the master owned 48,000 denarii.
To give perspective, unskilled workers earned 1 denarius for a Roman work day. So if we want an idea of what that would be worth today, we can take the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 x our American 8-hour day and assume a denarius could be worth about $58.
$58 x 48,000 = $2,784,000. These are just approximations because varied sources have different estimations, but suffice it to say, the master was a multi millionaire by today’s standards, and that is the amount I use as a modern day example in my paraphrase below.
𝐓𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞:
A master set out on a journey and before he left, he summoned three of his servants and divided $2,784,000 among them to invest for him. He gave the first servant $1,740,000, the second $696,000, and the third $348,000. He chose these amounts based on his knowledge of each servant’s ability to manage money and make a profit. The first two servants went out and doubled the money. However, the third servant dug a hole in the ground and hid the money using the excuse that the master was harsh, demanding, and known for reaping harvests from places he had not invested.
𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞
What I find interesting is the text states that 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, the master returned to settle his accounts with the servants. I don’t know how long is considered long, but enough time had passed for the servants to go out into the marketplace and make strategic investments which resulted in a return of investment worth a hundredfold. That’s a stellar ROI if you ask me. I’d like to know where I could place my money and double it in our current marketplace!
𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 – 𝐀𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤
So, what happened to the servants? How were they rewarded for their stewardship? The master was pleased with the first two, and he referred to them as being “faithful and trustworthy over a little.” As a reward, he put them in charge of many things and invited them to share in the joy of who he was and all that he owned. However, he was angry with the servant who buried the money. He referred to him as wicked and lazy, and told him he didn’t even use common sense to put the money in the bank so it could have gained interest! He took the money away from him, banished him from the kingdom, and gave the money to the first faithful servant.
𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟓:𝟐𝟗
Verse 29 in the Amplified restates the scenario in detail, “𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑠 [𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑦], 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 [𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡] ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑏𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒; 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 [𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐺𝑜𝑑], 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑒𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦.”
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
We need to understand that life doesn’t happen 𝐓𝐎 us; it happens 𝐅𝐎𝐑 us. We are all given talents (no pun intended) from birth that we can use to create a good life – a life that serves others. It’s in the investment of service, that we gain rewards. It isn’t about how much we’re given. It’s about what we do with our time, talent, money, and other blessings and gifts God has entrusted to us. Do we hide away and become lazy and nonchalant about our giftings, refusing to do anything with them or do we use them for the betterment of ourselves and the world around us?
𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
How about you? Do you think nothing works out for you in life because “𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡?” If so, are you willing to consider perhaps there’s a better way? Are you willing to ask different questions? Could those questions be “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨?”
We aren’t puppets in a game. We have talents and we have choice. What will you choose?