Use What God Has Placed in Your Hands
- Brian Pusser
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
Published 28 August 2026
Fear can make a person bury a gift before anyone else ever sees it.
Jesus tells a story in Matthew 25 about a master who goes away on a journey. Before he leaves, he entrusts his servants with talents, a large sum of money in that setting. One receives five talents, another receives two, and another receives one. Each receives according to their ability.
The first two servants put what they have been given to work. They take what is in their hands and bring back more. The third servant digs a hole and hides his master’s money in the ground.
When the master returns, he honours the servants who acted faithfully.
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’” “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21 NIV
The parable of the talents reaches far beyond money. It speaks to stewardship, trust, obedience, courage, and the way we respond to what God has entrusted to us.
God has placed something in your hands. It may look small to you. It may feel ordinary. It may not look like what someone else has. Yet the question is not, “Do I have as much as they do?” The better question is, “Am I being faithful with what God has given me?”
God entrusts each person with something valuable
The master in the parable does not give the same amount to every servant. One receives five talents. One receives two. One receives one. That difference matters.
Jesus does not present the master as unfair because the amounts differ. He shows that each servant receives something to steward. Each one is trusted with responsibility.
That is true in our lives as well.
God gives different gifts, opportunities, experiences, relationships, resources, and measures of influence. Some people teach. Some encourage. Some serve quietly. Some lead. Some give generously. Some pray with deep faith. Some carry wisdom gained through hardship. Some create beauty. Some bring peace into tense rooms. Some notice people others overlook.
The temptation is to measure the value of our lives by comparison.
We may look at another person and think:
They have more confidence.
They have a bigger platform.
They have a stronger voice.
They have more time.
They have more resources.
They seem to have a clearer calling.
Comparison often blinds us to what is already in our hands. It can make us despise the very gift God wants us to use.
The servant with two talents was not judged for failing to produce what the servant with five produced. He was honoured because he was faithful with what he had. The master said the same words to him as to the servant with five talents: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
That is deeply freeing.
God is not asking you to live someone else’s calling. He is asking you to be faithful with yours.
Faithfulness starts with what is already in your hands
Many people wait for a bigger moment before they obey God.
They wait until they feel more prepared. They wait until life is less busy. They wait until they have more money, more knowledge, more confidence, or more support. They imagine that faithfulness begins when everything looks impressive.
But in Scripture, God often starts with what is already present.
Moses had a staff in his hand. David had a sling and stones. A boy had five loaves and two fish. A widow had a little oil. These things looked small until they were surrendered to God.
The parable of the talents teaches the same principle. The faithful servants did not begin by wishing they had received more. They began by using what had been entrusted to them.
That may be what obedience looks like for you right now.
You may have “only” a little time. Use it well.
You may have “only” a simple gift. Offer it with love.
You may know “only” a few people. Serve them faithfully.
You may have “only” a small opportunity. Treat it as holy ground.
Small does not mean insignificant. In the kingdom of God, small acts of faithfulness often carry more weight than we can see.
A quiet prayer can strengthen a weary person. A kind word can interrupt a spiral of discouragement. A meal shared with love can become a sign of God’s care. A message sent at the right time can remind someone they are not forgotten.
God sees the hidden things. He sees the unseen obedience, the private sacrifice, the quiet consistency, and the faithful service no one applauds.
Fear is one of the reasons people bury their gifts
The third servant did not lose the talent by accident. He made a choice. He hid it.
Why?
Fear.
He was afraid of his master. He was afraid of failure. He was afraid of risk. So he buried what had been entrusted to him and returned it unchanged.
Fear still works that way.
It tells us that if we cannot do something perfectly, we should not begin. It tells us that if people might misunderstand us, we should stay silent. It tells us that the safest option is to hide. It dresses itself up as caution, but often it leads to disobedience.
Fear can make us say:
“What if I fail?”
“What if people laugh?”
“What if I am not good enough?”
“What if someone else could do it better?”
“What if I start and cannot keep going?”
Those questions feel reasonable, but they can become a grave for our gifts.
The issue is not that the servant had only one talent. The issue is that he did nothing with it. He allowed fear to define his response.
God does not call us to reckless living, but He does call us to faithful action. Faithfulness does involve risk. When you serve, you may be misunderstood. When you give, you may feel stretched. When you speak, your voice may shake. When you begin, your first attempt may be imperfect.
Still, the ground is no place for what God has given you.
A buried gift cannot bless anyone. A hidden word cannot encourage anyone. An unused skill cannot serve anyone. A neglected opportunity cannot grow.
Ask God to show you where fear has been louder than faith. Then take one obedient step.
Stewardship is about trust, not comparison
The parable invites us to rethink success.
The world often celebrates visible increase, public recognition, and measurable results. Jesus points us towards faithfulness. The master praises servants who acted with trust. They received, worked, increased, and returned what they had multiplied.
That does not mean results are irrelevant. The first two servants did produce more. But their increase flowed from faithful stewardship, not anxious striving.
There is a difference between serving from trust and striving from insecurity.
When you serve from trust, you can be diligent without being driven by comparison. You can work hard without needing to prove your worth. You can celebrate another person’s fruit without resenting your own field.
When you strive from insecurity, someone else’s success feels like your failure. Their gift feels like a threat. Their open door feels like evidence that God has forgotten you.
But God is wise in what He entrusts. He knows your capacity, season, wounds, strengths, and formation. He knows what you can carry now, and He knows what He is preparing you to carry later.
“You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” That line shows a pattern. Faithfulness in the small places prepares us for greater responsibility.
The “few things” matter.
The way you handle your current season matters. The way you treat people when no one is watching matters. The way you steward your words, time, choices, money, body, and relationships matters.
God forms us in the ordinary.
What has God placed in your hands right now?
It is easy to think about calling in large terms. Mission. Destiny. Purpose. Assignment. Those words have value, but they can also feel distant.
A more grounded question may help: What has God placed in your hands right now?
Look at your life honestly. Not the life you wish you had. Not the life someone else seems to have. Your real life, in this season.
Consider these areas.
Your gifts
What do you do that strengthens others?
Maybe you listen well. Maybe you teach clearly. Maybe you make practical needs visible. Maybe you organise with care. Maybe you sing, write, host, repair, cook, mentor, pray, or give wise counsel.
Do not dismiss a gift because it comes naturally. Sometimes what feels simple to you is deeply helpful to someone else.
Your time
Time can feel scarce, but even small pockets can be offered to God.
A few minutes of prayer. A regular call to someone lonely. A weekly act of service. A decision to be present with your family instead of distracted. These are not small in God’s sight.
Faithfulness does not always require a full diary. It often requires an obedient heart.
Your resources
Resources include money, but they are not limited to money.
You may have a home that can welcome someone. A car that can help someone get where they need to go. A skill that can ease another person’s burden. Experience that can guide someone through a hard season.
Ask, “Lord, how can this serve You?”
Your relationships
God often places people near us before He asks us to reach people far from us.
Family, neighbours, church community, colleagues, friends, and those we meet in daily life are not interruptions to calling. They may be part of it.
Faithfulness can look like patience, forgiveness, encouragement, hospitality, honesty, and presence.
Your story
Even your pain can become something God uses with tenderness.
This does not mean pain is good in itself. It means God can redeem what has wounded you. Your story, surrendered to Him, may become a source of comfort for someone walking through a valley you understand.
You do not need to share everything with everyone. Wisdom matters. But do not assume your scars have no purpose.
Start where you are and take one faithful step
The faithful servants did not bury the talents, and they did not merely admire them. They put them to work.
That is where many people get stuck. They know they have a gift. They sense God has given them something. They talk about one day using it. Yet they never take the next step.
The next step may be small, but small obedience is still obedience.
Here are a few simple ways to begin:
Pray and ask God to reveal what you have overlooked.
Name one gift or resource you can use this week.
Encourage one person with sincerity.
Serve in one practical way without needing attention.
Stop comparing your assignment with someone else’s.
Repent where fear has led you to hide.
Ask a trusted believer to help you discern your next step.
Do not wait until fear disappears. Courage often means obeying while your hands still tremble.
Do not wait until your gift feels impressive. Faithfulness often begins in hidden places.
Do not wait until someone gives you a title. Many of the most Christlike acts of service happen without a role, stage, or announcement.
Use What God Has Placed in Your Hands, not because you are trying to earn God’s love, but because you have already received His grace. Stewardship is a response to trust. God has been generous, and we honour Him by offering back what He has entrusted to us.
The reward is sharing the Master’s joy
The master’s words are full of warmth: “Come and share your master’s happiness.”
That is a beautiful picture of faithful service. The goal is not merely productivity. It is joy with the Master.
God does not call His people into stewardship because He lacks anything. He calls us into participation. He invites us to take part in His work, His love, His generosity, and His purposes.
When you use what God has given you, you step into that joy.
You may not see all the fruit now. You may not know who was helped, strengthened, guided, or encouraged through your obedience. Many seeds grow quietly before they break through the soil.
But nothing offered to God in faith is wasted.
So look again at what is in your hands. The gift may be simple. The opportunity may be small. The season may feel limited. The audience may be one person. The work may be unseen.
Still, be faithful.
Do not bury what God entrusted to you because it seems ordinary. Do not let fear write the story. Do not spend your life wishing for someone else’s talents while neglecting your own.
Offer your time. Use your voice. Share your wisdom. Serve your neighbour. Pray with faith. Give with love. Begin with what you have.
One day, by the grace of God, may we hear those words that matter more than all human applause:
“Well done, good and faithful servant.”
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