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This time of year is never easy. First of
all, it’s winter—which I love when it first
arrives here in mid-November. Before
Christmas, each snowstorm seems an occasion
to get out my camera and try to capture the
beauty of white-coated bare branches in my
backyard. But by February, I’m ready for a
change. But the change is still a long way
off. Whether or not the groundhog sees his
shadow, I know that here in northern
Illinois, we are in for at least two more
months of winter. We’re supposed to get a
foot of snow again tomorrow. We don’t see
the sun for days at a time, the days are
short, and it’s cold.
My husband is in a seasonal business,
with economic peaks and valleys. And winter
is always a valley, in which,
coincidentally, our property tax bill also
comes due. It’s enough to push my thrifty
husband to the brink, every year. This
year’s recession only makes things worse.
Sometimes, such circumstances can launch
us into a spiritual winter, where life
appears bleak, prayers feel brittle and
frozen, and the Light seems far off and
obscured.
It’s normal, in the dark of
winter—whether physical, spiritual or
financial—to give in to fear. To be afraid
that the valley has no end, that things will
go from difficult to impossible. The Bible
does not promise life won’t have valleys,
but it does promise God’s presence in those
low times. God is there, in the valley, in
the storms, offering comfort and direction
(see Psalm 23, Isaiah 43).
One of the blessings of my childhood was
its emphasis on Scripture memorization.
Often, little scraps of verses will fall,
like snow, unbidden, through my mind in a
just-in-time sort of way.
Such a scrap: “God has not given us a
spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and
a sound mind” came to me in this valley. I
knew it was in one of the Timothy letters.
The NIV (which had not yet been published
when I first started memorizing) puts it
this way: “God did not give us a spirit of
timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and
of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Fear keeps us from having a sound mind,
from seeing things clearly and accurately.
Troubles appear larger than they truly are,
blessings right in front of us are somehow
obscured from our vision. That’s what a
spirit of fear does.
The context of this verse is one of my
favorites. It’s penned by Paul in a letter
to Timothy, a younger man whom Paul mentored
in ministry.
Paul referred to Timothy his “true son in
the faith.” In 1 Timothy 4:14-15, Paul
writes to Timothy and says, “Do not neglect
your gift, which was given to you through a
prophetic message when the body of elders
laid their hands on you. Be diligent in
these matters; give yourself wholly to them,
so that everyone may see your progress.”
In his second letter to Timothy, Paul
repeats himself, but in a much stronger way.
It’s also where we find the verse about not
giving in to fear. Rather than telling
Timothy simply not to ignore or neglect his
gift, he writes, “…fan into flame the gift
of God, which is in you through the laying
on of my hands. For God did not give us a
spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power,
of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Timothy
1:6-7). The words are much more
urgent—perhaps because they were apparently
written toward the end of Paul’s life. Or
maybe, there’s another reason.
Because we only have one side of the
correspondence between Paul and Timothy, we
don’t know if Timothy wrote back to Paul.
What if he did? What if, when his mentor
told him not to neglect his gift, to be
diligent, he wrote back to say he was
scared, or didn’t think he could do it? And
what if that was why Paul repeated what he
said, only with more conviction.
Look at what Paul is saying: develop what
is already in you, “for God has not given us
a spirit of timidity.” That little word
“for”—meaning, in this context, because. Go
ahead and develop your gifts, because you
don’t have a spirit of fear, but rather, a
spirit of power. Because God is in you, and
his Spirit is with you, you don’t have to be
afraid.
Sometimes, we cannot think our way out of
fear. The antidote to fear is courageous,
bold action. Remember who you are, remember
what gifts you possess, and run with that.
While we can pray for courage, sometimes
prayer is action—when we boldly step out in
faith, God gives us the courage we need.
Book Review
 Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell
Retail Price:$27.99
Amazon Price:$11.99
What makes a person
successful? Why do some seem gifted, others
not so much? Is it merely their innate
intelligence? Or is it that the successful
people work much harder to be that way? Or
to continue with our theme this month, what
enables some people to fan their gifts into
a roaring flame, while others just smolder
or never really ignite?
These are the questions Malcolm Gladwell
addresses in his wonderful book Outliers.
The word means “something that is situated
away from or classed differently from a main
or related body; or a statistical
observation that is markedly different in
value from the others of the sample.” In
other words, something that is different
from the crowd. Gladwell says outliers are
“men and women who do things that are out of
the ordinary” and have extraordinary
success. The book looks not just at what
these people are like, but the surprising
factors in their success.
This book, by the author of The
Tipping Point and Blink, is a
national best-seller. Gladwell makes an
interesting argument for the idea that
success comes not only from hard work and
pluck, but also being born at the right
time, or the right place, or into the right
circumstances—in other words, to luck.
His opening example is that of Canadian
hockey players. Nearly 40 percent of those
who make the top junior leagues and
eventually the pros are born in the first
quarter of the year. Why? Because, Gladwell
argues, the cutoff date for kids’ hockey in
Canada is Jan. 1. “A boy who turns ten on
January 2, then, could be playing alongside
someone who doesn’t’ turn ten until the end
of the year—and at that age, in
preadolescence, a twelve-month gap in age
represents an enormous difference in
physical maturity,” Gladwell argues. Those
“stars” are funneled into elite programs
where they get more training, better
coaching, more game time. With these
opportunities, the gap widens. They become
outliers, not because they are more talented
or harder workers, but because of the month
in which they happen to be born.
Far from being fatalistic, though, he
argues that luck is not enough by itself,
but rather, it must be combined with hard
work and willingness to take risks. Gladwell
sums up his work by saying: “It is not the
brightest who succeed. … Nor is success
simply the sum of decisions and efforts we
make on our own behalf. It is, rather, a
gift. Outliers are those who have been given
opportunities—and who have had the strength
and presence of mind to seize them.”
This book reminded me that any success I
have is not due just to my hard work, but to
the opportunities and privileges I happen to
have had. But it also inspired me to boldly
develop my gifts and grab opportunities I’m
given, to work hard to take advantage of
them in order to be all that God created me
to be.
Quotable
“With regard to excellence, it is not
enough to know, but we must try to have and
use it.”
– Aristotle
“Life is not easy for any of us. But
what of that? We must have perseverance and
above all confidence in ourselves. We must
believe that we are gifted for something,
and that this thing, at whatever cost, must
be attained.” –Madame Marie Curie
Deeper Connection
What fears keep you from fanning into
flame the gift within you? Do you know what
your gifts are, and have a place to use
them?
If you have experienced any success in
life, what do you attribute that success to?
Is it only your hard work, or might the
opportunities God’s given you be a part of
it?
Connecting with Keri:
On the Web
Keri’s monthly “For Your Soul” column
provides encouragement and soul care for
leaders. Check it out at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/childrensministry/features/foryoursoul.html
If you are interested in having keri
speak to your group and would like to watch
video of her speaking, go to
www.keriwyattkent.com/speaking.htm
and click on the link to YouTube videos.
New audio posted! Also on the
speaking page, you can listen to audio
excerpts from Keri’s teaching sessions at
the Willow Creek women’s class on prayer.
Check out Keri’s blog, Deep Breathing for
the Soul, at
www.keriwyattkent.com/soul/ You
can read Keri’s latest musings on the
connection between faith and real life, you
can post a question about any of her books
or other writings. We give books away each
month, so check back regularly!
Keri is on Facebook and Twitter! Friend
her, follow her, send her a message there.
Speaking & Events
Keri is part of the
teaching team for a daytime class at Willow
Creek Community Church (South Barrington
campus) called Ordinary People,
Extraordinary Transformation. The 12-week
class will be a study of John Ortberg’s book
The Life You've Always Wanted and is
open to anyone. It meets from 9:30 to 11:30
a.m. Thursdays from February 4th - April 29th.
To register, go to
www.willowcreek.org/classes/
Keri will lead a one-day “Simple
Compassion” seminar for women
at Breakthrough Urban Ministries on
Feb. 20. This one-day seminar will jump
start your justice journey. We will look
very practically at how we can become women
who make a difference: women who act justly,
love mercy and walk humbly with God. It will
provide a safe, guilt-free environment for
discussing, asking questions, reflecting and
strategizing. Space is limited. To register
for this day (it’s only $35 and includes a
free book), e-mail Mike Murphy at
mmurphy@breakthrough.org
Keri will be the
keynote speaker at the Breathe Women’s
retreat at Camp Portage Lake Covenant Bible
Camp, in Onekama, MI, March 5-7, 2010.
Keri is now booking a
limited number of speaking engagements for
2010. For details, contact her at
www.keriwyattkent.com/speaking.htm
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