Caught, Not Taught

by Charles R. Swindoll

1 Corinthians 4

"Some things are better felt than telt," say our Scottish friends. And that is so true. Take insight, for example—that elusive weave of intuition, perception, alertness, and sensitivity. You just can't teach it. You can, however, nurture it. You can even expand it. But there's no one-two-three process that suddenly makes one insightful. Yet insight is essential in things like teaching or counseling or writing. When insight is present, those skills literally come alive. Insight makes the simple profound and the difficult understandable. Those who have it were not taught it; they caught it. From God.

Another example? Touch. We refer to a gifted musician as having the right "touch"—that sixth sense that lifts sterile black notes off white pages and transforms them into the colorful and moving strains of a masterpiece. Give some pianists the score and you get harmony and rhythm played with proper timing. Place the same piece before one with touch—and there is no comparison. One plays music. The other experiences it, feels it, is moved by it, understands, is lost in it...and helps us do the same.

Touch is somehow caught from God, not taught by man. Either you got it or you ain't!

These two extremes pose a practical problem, however: Either we feel deprived...or we get stuffy because we got it and they ain't.

Hey, let's once and for all put this frustration to bed. If you've "got it," you caught it. You didn't earn it or learn it or deserve it, nor can you preserve it. God sovereignly marked you out and equipped you with that unique ingredient to reflect His glory. That's the reason. "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" (1 Cor. 4:7).

And what if you're among the so-called have-nots? You're gifted, but it's not one of those abilities that seem so enviable. Your particular gift or ability or capability is just as significant, just as deliberately planned by God, as any other. It pleased Him to make you like you are for His glory.

And on top of the responsibility that's yours to contribute your part, you have the added joy of receiving the benefits from those individuals uniquely gifted with things like insight and touch. Those moments come to us on rare occasions in life, not to frustrate us but to refresh us...like the soft rush of wind from the flapping of angels' wings.

I don't know how else to describe it. Some things are better felt than telt.

Have you been envious or jealous of another's gift? Just stop and think of what the world would have missed had you not been in it.

 Your gift or ability is planned by God. He made you like you are for His glory. —Chuck Swindoll Tweet This

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

In Appreciation of Your Gift . . .