day 318: Untrained

Training. The definition of the word is; 1. the education, instruction, or discipline of a person or thing that is being trained: He's in training for the Olympics. 2. the status or condition of a person who has been trained: athletes in top training. Training is about being trained for something different to occur with the outcome not being the same and where improvement happens. When we are "in training" for something we are doing so so that we reach a higher level of performance and in most cases for a specific event or occasion. But, at work, its not always that way. People go to training all the time but who expects something different from them when they get back or who measures the difference in their performance? Unfortunately it doesn't happen often, if ever. That is why I am not a huge fan of training for the sake of training. There is some underlying message in the world of work that if you are being trained that you are special, good, or better than others. It's an interesting irony in that those who do go to training should be the ones that need it the most...not the other way around. That said, we all need coaching, but that's a different subject all together. I hear all the time, "But, I'm just not trained to do that." Unfortunately, this attitude leads to just not trying and giving up. This is true in the realm of people, like ourselves, who are trying to work to God's purpose but don't always feel adequate to minister or think that because we don't have the "training" that we aren't as effective or as "called" to be on the front line for God. In Acts Chapter 4, Peter and John had to do some things that they weren't trained to do and they did just fine, and it was all because of their attitude and their courage to ignore their lack of training and just do what God asked them to do. We read in Acts 4:13; "The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men who had no special training". Peter and John's large impact was partly based on the fact that they were untrained but could still do the job regardless and they did it boldly. What is it in your life that you are untrained for and you have been holding back because you think that without the training others won't appreciate or take you seriously? A different attitude and a little boldness and you may find that God wants to let you do something remarkable and yes, all without training.

Reference: Acts 4:13 (New Living Testament)