Are You a Butterfinger or a Reeses?

Due to some recent health issues, I have renewed my efforts to cut back on caffeine and sugar.  That being said, I did splurge today on a little chocolate after our hiking trip.  I was looking forward to the Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup that awaited me, but as I ate it, I came to a conclusion:  it wasn't as good as a Butterfinger or a Reeses.  In trying to be something it wasn't, not only did it fall short of the very thing it was trying to imitate, but it fell short of itself.  I would have much rather had a regular Butterfinger bar or a Reeses cup than that peanut butter hybrid.  But that's what happens when we try to be what we were never intended to be.

Take, for example, my desire to play the piano like so many others I know.  They have style.  They have class.  They have the technique and the perfect fingering.  They utilize grand runs and unique chords.  I, on the other hand, am a competent pianist, but no more.  I can make my way through most songs, but don't count on fancy chording or impressive fill-ins.  I don't do that.  I can't do that!  However, I have been told, on many occasions, that my music is beautiful and full of feeling and emotion.  Unfortunately, I don't feel that my "emotion" is as nice as someone else's flair, so I try to up my program.  I practice a song until my fingers are numb, but that doesn't matter to me because I've worked in all the proper things at the proper places, determined to make my music sound as impressive as another's.  But guess what?  It falls short. . . way short.  Despite the hours of practice and the intense concentration, the piece still lacks the quality of a better pianist, and because I am so focused on the technique, I lose all feeling and emotion.  In short, I'm still not as good as they are, and now, I'm not even as good as myself.  What a lousy deal!

God has given each of us talents and gifts, and there is even a variety within each of those talents and gifts.  He has blessed us with skills and personalities that are perfectly suited toward the things He has called us to do.  So, why would we try to be something or someone else?  We're not equipped to do those jobs because God never intended for us to do them.  He has given us each our assigned tasks, and He does not give us a job to do without giving us the skill with which to do it.  We may not be the best at what we do, but that's not what God is interested in.  First off, He's concerned that we are faithful in what He's called us to do.  Second, He wants us to do what we've been called to do in the way we've been called to do it because, while we may not be the best, we will often deliver something that "the better ones" do not.

If God made you to be a Butterfinger, please don't try to be a Reeses.  It simply won't work.  Just be yourself and allow others to appreciate you for your faithfulness to who you are.  After all, I'd rather have a Butterfinger that tastes like a Butterfinger than one that's trying to imitate something else.  Be what God intended you to be.  Don't fall short of yourself!

Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. - Romans 12:6-8