A group of animals got together in the forest one day and decided to start a school. There was a rabbit, a bird, a squirrel, a fish, and an eel. They formed a board of education and tried to create a curriculum. The rabbit insisted that tunnel digging in the ground be in the curriculum. The fish insisted on swimming. The squirrel insisted that perpendicular tree climbing be included, and the bird wanted flying.
They put all these courses together and wrote a curriculum guide. Then they insisted that all of the animals take all of the subjects. Although the rabbit was getting an A in tunnel digging, perpendicular tree climbing was a real problem for him; he kept falling over backwards. Pretty soon he became brain damaged from these falls, and he couldn’t dig well any more. He found that instead of making an A in tunnel digging, he was making a C. And, of course, he always made an F in perpendicular climbing.
The bird was really beautiful at flying, but when it came to digging tunnels in the ground, he couldn’t do it so well. He kept breaking his beak and wings. Pretty soon he was making a C in flying as well as an F in tunnel digging. And he had a very bad time with perpendicular tree climbing.
The squirrel was terrific at perpendicular tree climbing, but was so afraid of the water that he failed swimming altogether. The fish was easily the best in swimming class, but he wouldn’t get out of the water to come to any of the other classes.
The valedictorian of the class was a mentally retarded eel who did everything in a halfway fashion. But the teachers were happy because everybody was taking all the subjects in their broad-based educational curriculum. This story is taken from the book entitled “Everything You’ve Heard is Wrong” by Tony Campolo, and it sure teaches us a lesson or 2 about life.
Have you ever felt like the animals in that school? Have you ever been in a situation where you are supposed to do things that you are not equipped to do? I have. There was a time when I felt bad I could not do the slam dunk like Michael Jordan but now I realize that being air borne and slamming that leather ball into the hoop is not my gift in life. God has designed me to do something else and the beauty in this is that after He had made me, He threw away the mold and that’s why there can only be one Francis Kong in the world. I am unique and He has equipped me with certain things I can do pretty well.
There are things you can do that I can’t and there are things I can do that others can’t. Why? Because God never intended for everyone to do everything. You don’t have to be like your boss, your neighbor, pastor, or like anyone else. God gave you specific abilities, special talents and skills that are designed for you to be productive so that you can be a positive contribution serving God country and men. No one else is gifted quite the way you are, and there are many jobs that only you can do.
You’re special and all you need to do is to be connected with Christ and seek for those unique gifts given to you so that you can harness it and use it for His glory.
Remember, natural resources are destroyed by over use and abuse but human resources are destroyed by under use or non-use. So seek earnestly for those precious gifts and begin serving Him. There’s great and unexplainable joy in doing so. Believe me.