When Average Exceeds the Exceptional

Have you ever looked at someone and thought, "what a gifted person?"  We all have.  One of the problems that goes along with that thinking is an assumption that without the gift you could never accomplish what the gifted person could.  Many of the most successful people in history were normal people with a resoluteness and a focus that wouldn't stop.  It's really amazing what normal people can do if they won't stop. A prime example is Steve Jobs:  born to an unwed mother, he was fostered out.  He never finished college.  Armed with sheered determination and hard work, and the refusal to bow down to failure, he overcame obstacle after obstacle.  History is filled with just such people.  Often the really gifted people never live up to their potential.  One reason is that things seem to come so easily for them. They never develop a work ethic.  There are a host of extraordinarily gifted athletes who never made it to the top because they didn't have to work at it!  I work with preachers a lot.  In preaching we talk about the qualifications of great preachers.  There is certainly gifting.  You can't do anything about that.  Then there is the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Yet there is another characteristic that is only determined by the dedication of the individual and that is hard work.  I'm not saying that hard work in itself can bring the anointing of the Holy Spirit yet I am saying that ongoing, never stopping  learning and applying what we learn to our craft is invaluable.  I have seen great and gifted preachers get surpassed by average preachers who never quit seeking God and learning how to better communicate.  

Regardless of your daily endeavor making yourself a continual learner and applying what you learn will put you ahead of most people.  Most people pursue a goal and get only good enough to meet the criteria to get by and then they quit.  You may make it on that philosophy but so many people, and especially in this rapidly changing world, are passed by.  Often the "exceptional are exceeded by the average." You may learn from a gifted person but if the gifted person doesn't build on their knowledge and skills they will be left behind and probably become obsolete.  Fifty years ago that wasn't a certainty but it is today.  You can even do it in your spiritual life.  The children of Israel had to gather fresh manna each day.  Yesterday's manna would get rotten and no longer produce life.  Let's press ourselves to a new and higher level.  Let's make our goal becoming all that God will allow us to be according to His will and our willingness to continue to pursue wisdom, enlightenment and understanding.  We all may have limits to our accomplishments based on gifting but let's not let our limitations be a lack of ongoing learning and application.