The little toad
Can you see the little toad in the water? If you don’t look closely you will miss him with his camouflaged skin, sitting perfectly still trying so hard to blend in with the scenery.
How many of us want to be that little unseen toad? We want to just blend into life and not be noticed. We want to catch all the bugs and flies and fill our tummies, hop along the creek bank, raise our little toads and not be the center of anyone else’s attention. There is nothing wrong with wanting to blend in and not draw attention to our life. However, God has given us a special set of gifts that we must first find, then acknowledge and lastly use for the common good.
If we are all toads that don’t stand out as different from the other toads then we are not being true to our calling in this life. God wants each of us to look closely at who we are and to discern what talents and gifts He has given to each of us. The gifts are as different as the colors of the earth. It is a dishonor to God to just exist without searching our souls to find those gifts and talents. Sometimes as toads we don’t want to acknowledge the gift of being the fastest toad, we would rather just sit on a lily pad and float about the pond all day. Sometimes as toads we don’t want to admit we catch the most flies, so we just catch the same amount as our neighboring toads. We need to acknowledge and accept these gifts opening and graciously. Then we have the task of utilizing our gifts to the best of our ability. When we find that catching flies is what we do best and we are able to catch more than others then it is our responsibility to catch the most flies and share them with those who don’t catch as well.
It is much easier in life to just blend in with everyone else and lead a very low key life and that is fine if you have found your gifts and are using them to the best of your ability. If you are just hiding and camouflaging your gifts from God and the rest of the world then you are cheating yourself, others and God from the life He intended for you to have. So today hop off your lily pad and start to search within and find those gifts and use them for the common good of all!
