Do you have a special talent? Does your family boost your confidence in it or downplay it? Is your community unwilling to acknowledge your special abilities since they have seen you grow from a child into an adult? Is it frustrating to feel like you are being held back?
It is often the case that people are not given due credit for their talents and abilities in their hometown. Too many people remember when the person was a child, perhaps raucous and a little wild. Yet, the person matures and displays an unexpected ability.
Though we may not think so, Jesus experienced this phenomenon. When He went back to His hometown, people could not believe He could perform miracles. They knew Him as the builder’s son. They remembered Him being a child. They knew His mother, Mary. They took offense at Him, thinking He was thinking too highly of Himself and showing off.
We know from our own experience it is hard for someone with a special ability to go home and use that ability there. They may the ability to do great things, to lift the community up. They run into roadblocks and speedbumps due to local politics. If they are not part of the “in crowd,” they are held at arm’s length. Finally, they move on to another place and do great things there.
How do we rectify this? We embrace our local folks who have special abilities. It is fine to remember them as children, but we need to realize children grow up, mature, and are blessed with abilities by God. We should celebrate those abilities and allow them to be used in our local communities. We should eliminate the local politics and support those who will lift up others.
I pray we recognize people in our communities with special abilities. I pray we eliminate local politics. I pray each one of us will support our family members and local people. Support others. Encourage others. Eliminate politics. Honor those with special abilities. God has given us our abilities.
Mark 6:4 Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”
Marty Pressey 