Are You A Natural?

“She was born to do that.”

“He’s a natural!”

“Wow, that just comes so easy for them.”

“They make that look effortless.”

Have you ever heard those phrases, or maybe said them? Surely it was in response as you watched a person do something they were clearly created for, and it was just like seeing poetry in motion.

Some people are so good at a certain thing that anyone who watches them do it would say it is their destiny; it’s a natural, God-given, they’re-born-with-it talent.

Talent is defined as: A natural skill or ability to be good at something, especially without being taught.

Many of us can’t relate to that comment because, while we’re decent at something, it isn’t effortless. You would never look at me and say “Wow, she is a natural dancer.” And that’s okay.

I learned to tap dance in high school for musicals, and LOVED it. I was never the kid who danced around the house as a child and gracefully jumped off the playground equipment, pirouetting with elegance. I was the kid who tripped on the lines between tiles on the floor, and flew over the side of the playground slide because I thought going down with an umbrella would be a good idea.

Maybe you already figured that out about me.

I had to work on remembering the steps while learning a dance, and sometimes I had to think about the position of my feet during a step. It just didn’t “click” without effort. I’m no Grace Kelly, that’s for sure.

Maybe sometimes you look around church during a service, and you notice that we have a lot of talented people on the platform. Or you sit in a life group and appreciate the teacher’s ability to help you understand God’s Word. Or perhaps you’ve served alongside a person who is just good at making people feel at ease, and helps break the ice.

All of these things can be God-given talents. Some people can sing, play an instrument, teach, speak, and encourage without effort. It just comes out of them.

However, we have to be careful not to depend so much on the idea that our talent is enough to ensure things go well. Just because we are good at something doesn’t mean God is going to bless our efforts using that talent.

We can’t enter in to a church service, a life group, or a time of serving in a ministry without praying and asking for God’s help, wisdom, and blessing, and without being in His Word. Just because He has created you with certain abilities doesn’t mean that now you don’t need Him to be part of it anymore.

If you truly want it to be about HIM, then you have to MAKE it about Him from the start. Pray as you prep. Pray as you practice. Pray as you perform with the talent God has given you- whatever that looks like. And give the praise back to God.

Otherwise, it’s for you, about you, and is being done in your own effort. While the results in the moment can turn out okay because you’re just good at it, think about what God could do with a heart that’s truly surrendered, in an environment that has been bathed in prayer.

Do I think I sometimes limit what God can do because I’m not prayed up? Sadly, yes. I think if we’re honest, we could all say the same thing. I can easily rely on myself more than I rely on God.

I was convicted of this a long while back, and have been actively working to make sure I am seeking the Lord, and making Him part of everything from the very beginning. But it can be tempting to let my old ways creep back in.

I don’t want to just ‘get things done’, or stand before people and represent God without consulting Him. How silly does that sound? I want the Lord to have His rightful place at the forefront so that when people see me using the talent He has blessed me with, they praise HIM and not ME.

And I hope they see that I praise Him, too.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Psalm 9:1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

Psalm 115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Proverbs 16:2-3, 5
(2) All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.
(3) Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
(5) Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.