Several years ago, as we were getting ready to move out of a home that we had lived in for fifteen years, our daughters, son-in-law, and some of our daughter’s friends gathered in our backyard searching for treasure. The girls and their friends had buried a time capsule in the yard shortly after we had moved in.
They searched for a very long time and came away greatly discouraged that they were unable to find the lost capsule. Who knows? Maybe someday someone will find it and wonder about the people who buried the treasure in the yard.
This story reminds me of the great Zig Ziglar story about the Texas farmer who was struggling to feed his family because times were so tough on the family farm.
One day the farmer was approached by an oil company and asked if he would be willing to allow them to dig for oil on his land. They promised to pay him royalties if he would allow them to dig. Being desperate for any way to generate some income he agreed and the digging began.
It wasn’t long before the oil well was producing over 100,000 barrels of oil each and every day for over three years! Seemingly, in an instant the farmer and his family were millionaires!
In reality, the farmer always had the oil. He could have been a millionaire long before he became one if he had only dug for the oil sooner.Until that oil was brought to the surface from the depths of the Texas farmland it was of no value to anyone.
As I think about both of these stories I am reminded of the many talented people I have had the opportunity to meet or see and observe over the course of my lifetime. What if they had done nothing to mine those talents? What if they had stopped practicing or honing their craft because they didn’t think it would ever amount to anything? They kept digging until they struck their own version of oil and they shared it with the world.
What talent or skill do you possess that remains unearthed because you think it might be of no value? What are you depriving the world of because you are unwilling to do a little digging to see what’s there?
I would love to hear your comments and feedback and feel free to share this with those whom you might think would find it valuable!
Matthew 25: 14-30
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
