“I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it…” But the master replied, “You wicked and lazy servant!…Throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 25:25-26
In the story of the parable of the talents, the Lord talks of a master that gave money to three of his servants. The bible says that he gave each one a certain amount of money based on their abilities (v. 15). So each one was perfectly able to handle all that the master had given him. The servants were then to go invest the money and show the master their gains when he returned.
The first and second servant doubled their investment, but the last servant was afraid.
This is true of many people in life. They never launch out to do what God has called them to do because they are afraid. But we should learn from this story that to be afraid and do nothing is nothing more than wicked in the eyes of God.
What!?
The Lord also shows us where fear comes from in this story. Fear comes from laziness. Or at least that is one source of fear. The master said to the servant, “You wicked and LAZY servant!”
Some people might say, “well the poor guy was scared.” No, the man was lazy. His laziness to find out the proper way to invest turned into fear of failure. Fear of failure turned into lack of action and procrastination. His procrastination then turned into a self-comforting false reasoning that if at least he hid the money he wouldn’t lose it. After he convinced himself that this was okay, he comforted himself with the thought that maybe the master would buy this poor excuse.
Well, the master didn’t.
One of the worst things you can do for yourself is to allow your own excuses to comfort you. Comfort you for the time, they may, but on the day of judgment the Lord will ask you what you did with the resources that He gave you. Will your excuses stand on that day? Or will they be burnt up like a straw house drench with gasoline?
We need to launch out into what God has called us to do. And if it’s not time to launch out, we must be actively preparing for what God has called us to do. Sure there are risks, but with the Lord we can never fail. We may fail here or there, but if we trust in Him completely, in the end, we will always come out on top. Glory to God!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all that you do and He will direct your paths.
Hal Chaffee 