by Dr. Kenneth Kuykendall
I was in my office today at the church and I did what I do most every day: I spent some time in prayer, devotion, and study of the Word. After my time of meditation, I wanted to print out a couple of recent sermons and realized I was almost out of paper. The tray in my printer only had one piece of paper left, and so I did what anyone else would do- I grabbed about 50-60 sheets and put it on top of the one piece of paper…pretty simple thing (this is not rocket science).
After placing the new stack of paper on top of the one single piece of paper I paused to think about how long that one piece of paper had actually been in the tray. Probably it had been there for some time. The only time I see it or even recognize it is when I am low, and it simply serves as a reminder to fill the tray back up. Perhaps it has been there for months, or dare I say these past few years and has never been used.
No Hewlett-Packard ink has ever left its mark on its single white page. No sermon title has ever been printed upon its blank canvas. No letters, no numbers, no asterisks, no….it was just there all by itself. And to add insult to injury, after it finally made an appearance after these many weeks, it was covered up immediately with a stack of paper that will be used right away. It sits there until it is all alone again, only to be covered back up. Wow, what a vicious cycle!
Have you ever felt like the last piece of paper? You wait, you wish, and you wonder when God is going to use you? You want His words printed out on the canvas of your life. You see how He uses other people, and watch those around you coming and going. It’s not that you lack talent or ability…you’re just as gifted as any other sheet of paper around, but for some reason, the timing seems to be off.
You may be experiencing a season of life where you feel like you are covered up, and no one appreciates what you can offer; may I encourage you with a simple thought? Do not worry whether God will use you or not (that is up to God), just be where you are supposed to be in case He ever does! You see the greater blessing is simply knowing that you are in His tray!
Article submitted to IndependentBaptist.com