Are you in the right room?

Proverbs 18:16, "A man's gift makes room for him, And brings him before great men."

We often struggle with the idea of not feeling we measure up in a society that demands "the next big thing" in repeat mode.  God didn't create us to live "background worthy" lives. Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Katie Couric, Dr. Booker T. Washington, etc....are held as frontrunners of their era because they utilized what God had given them and cultivated it. God ain't gonna give us anything that He knows we will waste. People who use their gifts effectively allow their gifts to orchestrate them into greatness. If you are the most intelligent person in the room-get out of there! When King Solomon was preparing to take the throne of His father-King David, he asked God for wisdom and knowledge. Solomon recognized that titles have their rightful place, but if he didn't have the gift that God granted him, his reign wouldn't be effective. According to the Word of God, there wasn't a man as great as Solomon during his reign nor after. Solomon allowed his gift to make room for God's abundance to flow in.  Don't  focus on the doors men shut on us, but find solidarity in the notion that our God-given gifts are sufficient and will lead us into the doors that only God can open and close. Knowledge can get us in many doors-but wisdom shuts them.