Gift of the Talents: Living a Fully Surrendered Life

Remember our previous post about being quiet and recognizing the sublime? In that blog I shared a supremely sublime moment in my life that happened when a friend texted me the night after I’d been fired. But there is another sublime moment that always fills me with awe.

It happened when my friend Jeff and I were working on a problem at work, and suddenly we saw something that had been in front of us for years but we’d never noticed. From this, we ended up creating a patent that is licensed to Refined Completions that solves multiple problems for our customers—a solution that seemed impossible. Especially in the production of hydrocarbon.

We were able to provide a solution to a problem that, until our discovery, would not have been solvable. The discovery was a gift, and because of the talent God has given me, I’m able to communicate the solution to our industry in a way that is intuitive because it stands on the physical laws that God has put in place.

The parable of the talents keeps echoing in my mind when I think about this. I’m sure you know the one: the master gives three servants different amounts of talents according to their ability. Two of them take what they’ve been given and multiply it. The third buries his in the ground out of fear.

But here’s what struck me: the servants who multiplied their talents weren’t doing it just to impress the master. They were using what they’d been given because they were surrendered to the master’s purpose. They weren’t focused on what they would get. They were focused on what they could give. That’s the difference between a life lived serving yourself and one that’s lived serving others.

When we live a fully surrendered life, we have the ability to use our talents in such a way that the only explanation for what we can see and do is God.

We stop taking credit. We stop performing. We stop trying to be someone we’re not. And in that surrendering, we discover who we actually are.

I was talking with my Chief Integration Officer, Holly, about what it means to live a 10x life, and it came down to mindset. Not the version where 10x means grinding harder, pushing faster, crushing more out of sheer force of will. 10x is not achievable by working harder—real 10x is something different entirely.

Living a 10x life is like living as if you’ve already gotten to the place where you want to be. It’s the freedom that comes from surrender.

Think about it this way: if you’re stagnant and not moving forward with the talents God has given you, those gifts atrophy. Some of the most uniquely talented people and minds in this world have buried their gifts because they never stepped into them. They’re afraid so they’re protecting themselves. They’re not surrendered and that potential remains locked away, collecting dust.

Then there are those who use their talents to get a reward instead of using their talents to give or to bless. That’s when everything goes sideways. If you’re focused on what you get out of a transaction, you’ll only get that one thing. You hit your goal, and immediately you feel unsatisfied. But if you’re focused on using your talent to the best of your ability, with generosity as your guide—if you’re solving the problem because the problem matters—then the rewards that come are exponentially more than any goals you likely had. Many times joy is one of the results and shows us that God thinks bigger than we do.

That’s why when you’re self-focused, you’re never satisfied. But when you shift from “What can I get?” to “What can I create, contribute, and give?” everything changes.

I’ve watched this play out in my own life more times than I care to admit. Years spent trying to protect myself, control outcomes, guarantee success. All of it rooted in fear and self-focus. And you know what it produced? Shame. Failure. Damaged relationships. A reputation I had to spend years rebuilding.

The shift happened when I stopped asking, “How do I get what I want?” and started surrendering what I want to what God wants. That’s when my talents actually started multiplying, and problems I never thought could be solved suddenly had clarity.

The parable isn't teaching you about focusing on how much talent you’re given, t’s about what you do with it once you’re holding it in your hands.