Culley sat at the chessboard with his palms sweating just a little, staring at the neatly arranged pieces like they were waiting to judge him. It was his first real game—no more practicing with apps or moving pieces around alone in his room. His opponent sat across from him, calm and confident, while Culley’s mind raced. What if he messed up? What if he made a move so bad everyone watching remembered it forever? After what felt like an hour, he finally reached out, nudged a pawn forward, and sat back with a shaky breath. At least he’d started.
But something surprising happened once that first move was made. Culley found himself studying the board more closely, noticing patterns he hadn’t seen before. Each move he made helped the next one make a little more sense. The game didn’t feel like a giant wall anymore—it felt like a puzzle he could actually solve. With every decision, his confidence grew. By the end of the match, Culley wasn’t just proud of how he played; he was excited to keep learning. Chess wasn’t scary anymore. It was an adventure he was ready to keep exploring, one move at a time.
Rumble
A little while back I talked about a blog article by a writer named Dan Kent from a couple of years ago titled “Why Did David Pick Up 5 Stones?“.
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Your Life And What Comes After
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“Don’t stand around waiting for God to act, or for God to win your battles for you: don’t stand around watching for what God might do: rather, show God what you can do. Gain wisdom, gather knowledge, develop skills, give the Lord something to use as he rumbles through the earth unfolding his glorious will.”
Dan Kent
“Show God what you can do.” Don’t be afraid or hesitate to take action, to develop skills and to make yourself the very best you can possibly be. That’s what God desires and that’s how you put yourself in the flow of His grand plan: “…give the Lord something to use as he rumbles through the earth unfolding his glorious will.”
Devise your way, and God will direct your path—if you choose the way that is right and fits your good desires, talents, and interests.
Get Started
Here are some ways you can do that starting today:
- Write down three things you really like to do, like play baseball, dance, sing, write stories or poetry, or build models – whatever they might be, write down the top three. Take your time and really think about this.
- Now write down three things that are necessary skills in life and work that you may not be good at but that you want to learn and get better at. These are school, job, and life skills—like getting better at math and science, learning about carpentry or cooking, learning to swim, or how nutrition works best.
- Now you have six areas you can work on and focus on in your daily life. Keep a little notebook with those things written down, read them regularly, and think about how to develop those skills, then get busy developing them.
Some or all of these six things you write down may change over time, but if you really think about them before writing them down, you should have a pretty good idea of what your skills and natural talents are. These are the things that you can apply to being God’s partner in His work in the world.
Child of God, husband, father, grandfather, rabblerouser, songwriter, pot stirrer, waiting for the King.