When I was a kid, I tried a bunch of different sports. My family didn’t have the means or the patience to do a bunch of sports at once, but every few years I’d try something new.

I played baseball for a few years as a young kid. Then I played basketball at the Y for a few years. In middle school, I played ice hockey. In high school, I played volleyball.

I was usually not the worst kid on the team. But if something happened to the worst kid, I was in trouble.

In hindsight, I was trying to find something that I was good at. Like maybe I would find a sport that I was just a “natural” at?

Have you ever done that? Tried to find something that you’d be naturally really good at?

I think we do the same thing with all kinds of talents. Whether it’s musical instruments, or some kind of performance art like singing or dance, or some academic thing.

We’re all hopeful that we’ll stumble upon something that we’re just naturally excellent at.

But that’s not actually how it usually works.

I’m not saying that “talent” is never a thing. Some people seem to take to a sport or an art more easily than others.

But there’s a lie that we believe that says, “If I was going to be good at something, I would already be good at it.”

The Bible doesn’t agree with that idea. The Bible shows us something different.

David is famous for killing the giant Goliath. But that’s not where he started. Before he killed Goliath, he was a shepherd and killed lions and bears. Sounds kind of like practice, doesn’t it?

Before David became King, he served in Saul’s palace. Do you think he learned anything while he was there? Maybe some stuff that would help him know how to run a Kingdom when it was his turn?

God chose Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. But God also placed Moses in Pharaoh’s palace. Do you think he met some people or learned anything that would be helpful to his future mission while he was there?

When Paul encountered Jesus in the bright light on the road to Damascus, he immediately started talking to everyone about Jesus. But he also had a period of 8-14 years of training.

When Paul started on his missionary journeys, he went with Barnabas. Barnabas wasn’t just his buddy, Barnabas was his mentor—like a coach or a supervisor. Paul had a lot of “talent” but he still had a lot to learn, too.

And those are just a few examples! We could make a case for so many others in the Bible…anyone want to talk about the 12 disciples? Timothy? Titus? Apollos?

Talent isn’t enough. What God’s looking for is passion.

I work with writers every day as the leader of the writing apprenticeship at The Company, and I see this same idea constantly.

Many people assume that if God called you to do something, then you’ll instantly be excellent at it. But that’s not what we see in the Bible, and that’s not what we see in more modern history either.

Nearly every great evangelist you can think of went through a period of training that probably felt a lot like failure. Billy Graham didn’t preach to tens of thousands of people on his first day.

Stop asking what you’re talented enough to do. Start asking what you have the passion to persevere in.

Passion can’t be manufactured.

With all those sports I tried, the problem was that I just didn’t care. I didn’t care enough to spend hours in the driveway dribbling the basketball. I wasn’t glued to the TV to watch my favorite teams. No matter how much I tried to motivate or discipline myself, I wasn’t made with a passion for sports. It’s just not at me.

There is no part of me that will agree to injure myself so as to get to the ball or the puck faster.

I did a lot of writing, though. I’d write things just to delete them. I’d write things in secret and not tell anyone. Nobody had to make me do it. On the few occasions we’d actually get a creative writing assignment in school, it seemed like I was good at it.

Am I “talented” at writing? I think so. I think it’s a little bit easier for me to pick up and understand than some people.

But more than anything else, I’ve always been passionate about it. That’s led me to do a lot of it.

That’s inspired me to arrange a lot of my life around writing. I didn’t have to work myself up to start writers groups or do cool projects, it just comes out of me.

Alli is a good example of this, too.

When writers fail, it’s usually not because they’re not talented or because they’re unlucky. Most writers fail because they don’t actually produce anything.

Call It Consequences is a great book. I truly believe it belongs on every bestseller list (and I look forward to that!).

But this isn’t Alli’s first book.

Before she joined my apprenticeship at The Company she’d written some stuff. Nothing to show for it yet, but she was trying.

Even at the apprenticeship, not everything she did was amazing. But that’s how she got better.

Here’s a secret: there’s actually another manuscript between Copper Lies and Call It Consequences which Alli wrote that wasn’t even close to publishable. I might be the only person on the planet who’s actually read the whole thing.

But her passion drew her through. That “failure” was just a minor bump, just a learning experience.

She’s going to write stuff no matter what. No one’s going to stop her.

And that passion gave us something to work with. That passion could turn into quality with persistence and good coaching. That passion makes it fun for us to work together, even on the days we don’t win.

The truth is that there’s probably not anything that you’re just naturally amazing at without a lot of practice and failure.

There’s nothing that you’re going to just do one day, and everyone will stand in awe.

But I bet there is something that you’re passionate about. I bet if you give yourself permission to unleash that passion and pursue it with your whole self, to invest and take risks, that you could be really good at it before you die.

The enemy wants you to believe that if you actually had any potential, you’d already be amazing.

The enemy wants you to believe that if God had actually called you to do something, then God would have instantly made you excellent and successful at it.

But what does the Bible say?

The Bible says that you are called for a purpose. But the Bible also shows us that your purpose is usually a hard process of submitting to good instruction, trying and failing, and stepping out in faith.

So what are you “talented” at? Wrong question.

For what has God filled you with passion? Now we’re getting somewhere.

---

I can’t recommend Brad as a mentor enough! I’m so honored to have him on my website in this guest article! He’s right, too. Get great wisdom like this and more when you check out The Company. (Also, can’t believe he exposed me like that. I am so thankful that even though Brad reads the worst of my worst, he’s still proud of me.)

Did You Know Brad Helped Me Write My Latest Book?

Don’t miss out on this #1 New Release! Grab your copy today https://amzn.to/3Mx5h3u