The Man Who Fails by R.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 23, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 28.

The Man Who Fails

By R.

It was the man with the one talent who failed. He wrapped his gift in a napkin and buried it in the earth—so it was in the parable. But in actuality this means that he simply refused to use it, cultivate it, increase it, because he thought it hardly worth while. It amounts to nothing, anyway, he thought, so what's the use? He let it lie unused. This too often is the manner of humanity.

History, God's providence, the examples of the Word, all teach another lesson. For example, when God appeared to Moses and told him the task to which he must set his hand, humanity shrank from the ordeal.

"I can't do it," said Moses. "I tried it once, and I bungled the work so badly that if I should try again I would be laughed at for my pains. I can't do it. Of course I don't limit Divinity, but even the Lord couldn't accomplish the task, using me."

These are not the exact words, but they give pretty well the experience and feeling of Moses.

To teach him a better way, God said, "What is that in your hand?"

"It is a rod," Moses replied.

"Take it with you. By means of this mere stick of yours I will work the wonders that will set Israel free."

And right then and there a little rehearsal was given Moses. He was commanded to throw the stick upon the ground, it became a squirming reptile, and the man fled from before it.

"Take it by the tail," he was instructed.

He seized it by the tail; it became again a stick.

Other wonders were produced, and finally enough heart was infused into Moses that he was willing to coöperate with God.

But wherever he went, and whatever he did, he had to carry the old stick. When he held it up in obedience to the word of God, wonders followed. The Egyptians saw that uplifted stick; they saw the plagues that followed its elevation; they connected the stick with the power of God that was with Moses. Thus the Lord demonstrated to both believer and unbeliever that He could work through the instrumentality of a rough old stick.

It was a constant memorial to Moses of the fact that the power was of God. The instrumentality was nothing, save that it had been chosen by the Lord. And thus the lesson was constantly to him that his weakness, even his inability, his lack of power or talent, was as nothing, so long as he was chosen of the Lord as an instrument, and so long as he yielded himself up willingly as that instrument. The sufficiency was not of him, but of God.

What a parable it was, what an object-lesson, what a constant reminder to all, that Jehovah was leading the children of Israel, that Jehovah had undertaken for humanity!

And the lesson was so vital, and so important, that when Moses forgot it even once, when he brought water from the rock, the Lord could not, in justice to His grace and glory, allow Moses to go into the promised land. That one fatal time Moses took glory to himself by saying, "Must we bring water from the rock?" There was no "we" about it; it was God. Moses was merely to speak to the rock, the symbol of Christ, and the water by God's power was to flow.

It is the most important lesson that a man can learn in this world,—the power is of God. In the goodness of the Lord, He chooses humanity as His instrument. The Lord defines the conditions and the ways and the manner in which the instrument is to be used. When the instrument coöperates in conformity to His will, the work follows.

Thus it has been throughout all the ages. It was merely a smooth stone from the brook that broke the pride of the Philistines in the days of David. It was only a broken pitcher, smashed at the psychological moment, and the blast of a trumpet, that gave, through God's power, to Gideon's three hundred, absolute victory over the countless hordes of the enemy. It was a few loaves and a few fishes, through Christ's miraculous working, that fed the famished thousands. It was only water in the jars that was used by His grace for the furnishing of wine at the marriage feast. It was a little oil in the cruse and a little meal in the barrel, that fed Elijah and his benefactress through the weary days of the long famine. It was an arrow drawn at a venture that fulfilled the prediction of the prophet when the king of Israel was slain.

All these are but suggestions of how God has always worked; and the sacred writer goes even farther by saying that God uses even things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. The weak things, the base things, and even things that do not exist,—all these God uses that all may see that the power is of God, and therefore be constrained to give Him the glory.

But the one final lesson we must not forget is that of the man who hid his talent in the earth. It was not of enough value or significance, therefore he left it unused. The moral of that parable is that every talent can be used, tho it be only one talent. If given to God, it will be employed to His glory and to its enlargement.

And the parable furthermore shows that God will expect an increase from every talent. In other words, He expects every one to give whatever he has, tho apparently insignificant, to His service.

In the wisdom of God, in the goodness of God, by the power of God, it will work out the purpose of God. The owner will be blessed, the instrumentality sanctified, and God will be honored and glorified.

Therefore, whatever duty calls you to do, say not, "I can't." Whatever is God's will, He can do through you. The Lord who employed Moses' stick, David's smooth stone from the brook, the boy's few loaves and fishes, can use you; and there is no question about it. Therefore do not question it, for to do so is to limit God in His use of you.