An Instrument in the Hands of God

In his recent talk in general conference, Elder Uchtdorf spoke about the gifts that we have been given from God. He said, “God gives us gifts—of knowledge, of ability, of opportunity—and He wants us to use and amplify them so they can bless us and bless His other children.” He continued, “‘But Elder Uchtdorf,’ you might say, ‘I don’t have any gifts or talents—at least, none that are that valuable.’… Oh, how I wish I could embrace you and help you understand this great truth: You are a blessed being of light, the spirit child of an infinite God! And you bear within you a potential beyond your own capacity to imagine. As poets have noted, you come to earth ‘trailing clouds of glory’! Your origin story is divine, and so is your destiny. You left heaven to come here, but heaven has never left you! You are anything but ordinary. You are gifted!” He quoted this modern-day scripture: “There are many gifts, and to every [person] is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, [and] all may be profited thereby” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:11-12). The Lord’s declaration is that He has given a gift through the Spirit of God to every person. The question is not whether we have any gifts from God. It is rather this: what will we do with the gifts we have been given?

                Elder Uchtdorf also said this: “The day will come when we stand before our compassionate Father in Heaven to give an account of our stewardship. He will want to know what we did with the gifts He gave us—in particular, how we used them to bless His children. God knows who we truly are, who we are designed to become, and so His expectations for us are high.”  Like the man with only a single talent in the parable, we can’t hide our gift because we believe it is small and expect that the Lord will be pleased with us. But, as Elder Uchtdorf also said, “He doesn’t expect us to take some grand, heroic, or superhuman leap to get there. In the world He created, growth happens gradually and patiently—but also consistently and unrelentingly. Remember, it is Jesus Christ who already did the superhuman part when He conquered death and sin. Our part is to follow the Christ.” Our task is to little by little improve upon the talents He has given us and seek in small ways to use them to bless the lives of those around us. I think these words of the Lord should encourage us to continue to strive each day to develop and use our talents to bless others, even when we feel they are small and insignificant compared to those of others: “Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34).

                To not be weary in well-doing requires persistence each day to do those things the Lord wants us to. In his footnotes, Elder Uchtdorf included this quote from an unusual source for a conference talk: “Of course there has to be some talent involved, but talent is a dreadfully cheap commodity, cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work and study; a constant process of honing.” (That came from Stephen King in a non-fiction book about horror fiction.) The point of the quote I think is that receiving a talent from the Lord alone is not enough; we must do the “hard work and study” to cultivate it and put it to use. Elder Uchtdorf commented, “Sometimes we overemphasize the importance of gifts and talents at the expense of persistent effort.”

                Elder Uchtdorf summarized his message with this invitation: “I urge and bless every member of the Church, and all who desire to be part of it, to trust the Savior and engage, patiently and diligently, in doing your part with all your heart—that your joy may be full and that, one day, you will receive all the Father has.” I believe that happiness doesn’t come from fame or the glory of having some great talent; rather, it comes from using whatever talents the Lord has given to the best of our ability to serve His children. Like Alma, we should strive to be “content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto [us].” As we do so and seek to “be an instrument in the hands of God” in whatever He wants us to do, we will find that our “soul [is] filled with joy” as it was for him (Alma 29:3, 9-10).