I read about a fellow whose fears would be funny if they were not so sad.  This man REALLY liked a set of hubcaps that he saw in an auto parts store, so he bought them for his car. 
They were quite expensive.  He loved them.  But he was extremely paranoid that someone would steal them.  He had only street parking.  So, each evening he would remove the hubcaps and lock them inside the trunk of the car.  What a life!  Yet in a different arena, many people are no different than that fearful man.  For example,…our talents.  The talents and abilities that God gave you are like bright shiny chrome hubcaps.  They grace your life and dress it up beautifully.  Yet many people take their hubcaps off and lock them inside the car.  Jesus told a story about a man who buried his chrome hubcaps.  Well, almost (Matthew 25).  He said the man buried his money (which represented his abilities and talents).  Why did he bury it?  He was AFRAID that if he tried to put it to use that something dumb or embarrassing would happen.  Maybe a hubcap would get dented!  Maybe he would lose one of them.  So, he buried his money.  Locked his hubcaps in the trunk.  Of course, the point of the parable from Jesus was God’s displeasure with the fearful attitude.  In fact, Jesus said that man was “wicked and lazy.”  It seems surprising to call him “lazy” when he went to the extra work to dig a hole.  But he was lazy because the little work he did was to avoid the hard work of USING his talents.  He was not only afraid of failing, but he was also too lazy to really TRY, to put his heart on the line and his ability to work!  He did not want to invest the effort.  I have read that Einstein was a slow and disappointing student in school.  How tempted he must have been to dig a hole, to lock his hubcaps in the trunk.  What if that had happened?  What if he had been afraid to put his ideas and concepts out there?  Perhaps mankind would not yet have walked on the moon.  Do not lock your hubcaps in the car!  Let people see them!  Put them to use!  Give them to the Lord, and he will

 bless and help people with them!