Talents and Trust

• Prayer is not a waste of time.
• Others praise for a while and leave you ruined; only God’s love lasts.
• Loving others–true, selfless love–is the greatest  achievement of all.
• Why do you need worldly praise to feel like you can do it, anyway? Jesus already died for you! He knows you can!

These are notes from my prayer journal that I wrote on 8/22/12. I was struggling with the feeling that I haven’t achieved enough in life. I think we all go through that phase–it’s an on-and-off thing.

I felt like they needed to be shared.

It isn’t worth losing yourself and wringing out your soul for the sake of worldly praise. Sometimes, though, it’s very tempting to think so. When we’re going those through dry phases that come when it’s least convenient, we want someone to give us a physical pat on the back.

(Stop and consider that sometimes He will pat you on the back through another person.)

Chances are they’ll lose interest, walking away to the next big thing. They’ll leave you with injured pride and an ego too heavy to carry. Worldly things can destroy you, and make it difficult to find your way back to Him–not impossible, but difficult. His love lasts forever and the only approval we ought to look for is His.

You won’t be satisfied with anything else.

If you’ve been craving worldly things lately, or seeking praise for an achievement, stop and remember the source of it all. Every gift you have comes from the Creator, Who crafted you and is always guiding you in every aspect of your life. There’s nothing wrong with feeling proud for having done something, but it’s easy to forget where it came from. When you forget about Jesus, nothing tastes the same–things become dry.

Ask for the virtues of humility and patience. It isn’t easy, but we’ve all got to remember that only His opinion matters. Once we realize that, everything else will fall into place.

He already has a path written out for you, but you won’t be able to find it without Him. Sit and pray about it right now! Remember that if you’ve been failing at these virtues, it’s perfectly normal. We’re going to fail at them much of the time. What counts is that we realize what’s wrong in our actions, and try to change.

Pray Jesus, I trust in You. Tell Him everything that’s bothering you, and ask for the strength to be humble. You might not believe it now, but everything tastes a lot better once you’ve given the reins of your talent to Him.

He will take you to great places!