WHY YOU NEED TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL

A story is told of a man who took his savings and boarded a ship to a city. He was sure that his money would sustain him during the period of the trip. Eventually, the ship developed a problem and there was a delay of extra days. The man did not have the money to buy food, but he was seeing other passengers on board eating and drinking. One day, he became very weak and hungry. He decided to go to the restaurant, eat and be arrested instead of dying of hunger. After eating, he asked for the bill. The restaurant officer looked at him and informed him that the food was part of the fare he had earlier paid. The man was shocked. He suffered when he could have also enjoyed himself with the others. Similarly, many people are suffering for different reasons not because they cannot be victorious, but because they have failed to discover their potential and put them to use. I hope after reading this article (if you are one of them) you will realize your error, discover your potential and start using it for the glory of God.

What is Potential?

The Complete Christian Dictionary for Home and School defines Potential as “Capable of coming into existence or of being developed” (1992, P: 523). When you take a rotten seed and sow it in the best soil. Give it the best fertilizer and sufficient water. Consult the best experts in agriculture on how to bring growth. At the end of your efforts, you will reap nothing, because there is no life in the seed. To ensure proper and effective results, it is important to have a healthy seed. The potential in the seed is to be released through the right process. It is important to ask yourself this critical question at this point, “What living seed do I have?”

People have potential in different areas: Teaching, business, writing, encouragement, sports, cooking, leadership, speaking, art etc. The Holy Bible has examples of some people whose potential and assignments were identified.

Leadership:  Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 25:22-23 NIV).

Craftsmanship: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts — to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship’” (Exodus 31:1-5 NIV).

Deliverance/ Liberation:  A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was sterile and remained childless.  The angel of the Lord appeared to her and said, “You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son.  Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines”  (Judges 13:2-5 NIV).

Prophecy: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5 NIV).

Service: “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:13-15 KJV).

Royalty: The angel Gabriel also brought a message to Mary. “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:30-33 KJV).

All these people used their potential. We remember them because of their contributions. God has a master plan. No one is useless because every one of us has a role to play in the master plan. God is expecting something from everyone. You may now be thinking of what you can offer.

Identification

Picture God’s will as an organization. Where do you fit in? To be able to identify your potential requires asking God. Many people have the right resources, time, environment, discipline and commitment, but because they are yet to know how they fit into God’s programme, they spend their resources on doing things that look good to them.

God uses different things to open our hearts to our potential. Sometimes through supernatural means like Moses (Exodus 3:2-4) or Paul, who was then called Saul (Acts 9:3-16); or through ordinary things we see, hear and feel. It can also be a result of some challenges, dreams, words from parents, brothers, sisters, friends, books, films magazines, classes, or something on the street while driving, sitting or walking. Once you have the pointer to your potential, you cannot ignore it. Joseph was shown his potential through dreams; a channel which many people may say is not dependable (Genesis 37:5-9). King Saul met his own when he went out looking for his father’s missing donkeys (1 Samuel 9:1-17). Gideon discovered his own in hiding (Judges 6:11-16).        cd

The responsibility you were created for may be different from what you may now be doing.

The Apostle Peter was called by a lake when he was washing his nets after a bad fishing experience (Luke 5:1-10). The Apostle Levi was a tax collector when he was called at work (Luke 5:27-28). You don’t have to only insist on supernatural means for your potential to be shown to you. God has already placed abilities in you. All you need is something from Him to give you the first step.

In school, one of our lecturers once invited a physically challenged man to our class to share his story with us. His two legs had been paralyzed by polio. He told us that he got polio when he was a kid. After that, life became a nightmare. Many people thought he was useless. His father did not want him to go to school because of his condition; but through determination, he was able to study up to University level.

One day, he read the story of Peter and John, who healed a beggar by the power of Jesus at the beautiful gate (Acts 3:1-10). The Lord ministered to his heart to start a ministry to help physically challenged people in society. The ministry grew and provided wheelchairs and scholarships to many needy physically challenged people.

Now think about these questions:

1. Do you think this man would have understood the story the way he did if he was not physically challenged?
2. Did God use his predicament to help him discover his potential?

Even though God is not the author of evil, He indeed used this man’s experiences to help him identify his potential. The method was painful and difficult, but the result was positive and relevant.

You may be good at many things. Whenever you do them, people may clap their hands and praise you for having great talents. Lives are changed as a result, and people come to you daily for encouragement. As you continue to be good in many things, you should seek confirmation from God as to whether you are in the right department of your potential or not, because it is only in the right department that you will perform best.

The role you were created for may be different from what you are now doing.

I still want to ask you “What living seed do you have?” If you sincerely ask yourself this question, it will start leading you to uncover some vital areas of life.