All a Steer Can Do is Try

Recently I heard a country lady use a grand old rural expression: All a steer can do is try. She was speaking of sincere but futile efforts. (For you city folk, let me explain. A “steer” is a creature who was born a bull calf, but who early encountered surgical intervention as a result of which the steer will never become a daddy. A steer has only one destiny, and it has to do with barbecue season.)

That said, as any farm kid knows, a young steer somehow maintains enough of the taurine instinct to know what he was supposed to do, and given an opportunity will have at the cows with fervent passion. But, of course, nothing happens, because it can’t.

When I heard that good old country language, I had to laugh, but I couldn’t help but think how many of us in life are like the steer: plenty of effort, zero results. And for essentially the same reason – we hope for success in an endeavour for which we are totally unsuited. Like the steer, we’re able to go through the motions, and like the steer, there is no chance of success. A case in point would be my musical career.

I’m often asked, “How do you discover your Giftings?” The answer is rarely simple, but one thing we can say with confidence is that it’s much easier to determine what your Giftings are not. Simply by assessing and acknowledging the stuff where you clearly are not gifted will clear the table for a better use of your time and talents.

Thinking back to the countless hours I wasted in futility trying to learn the rudiments of playing guitar, I wonder what would have happened if I had devoted that time to writing, or deepening my capacity in a narrower area of law, or perhaps even spending more time with the kids and family.

While I’d be more than happy working with you to identify and hone your Giftings, a really good and cost-free place to start is just to come to terms with areas of your life where you are, at very best, mediocre, and limit your time and effort there to the bare minimum, or better still, eliminate them.