Potential vs. Potency
“You have great potential!” Have you ever had someone tell you those words? I’m sure most of us have at some point or another. I was at Cedarville this past weekend and we sat through one of their chapels. The president of their SGA from last year came back and was talking about this. It got me thinking. How long do you have potential? Can one ever reach one’s potential. There has to be a point where we go from being people with great potential to being potent people. People so on fire for God, nothing can shake us. People willing to take risks. Have you ever heard this quote, “The safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will.” I know I have, but the speaker brought up an interesting point..He said, actually being in the middle of God’s will is actually a dangerous place to be. Think about David-do you think he felt safe when he was against an army twice the size of his? Or Moses standing in front of a burning bush being commanded to go speak out to Pharoh? I’m guessing neither of them felt too safe, but they trusted God and were willing to take risks and be potent people. They were going to stop listening to people telling them they had great potential, and start living up to the potential. But how do you make this change? I know it’s not easy..but as he put, you have to go up to the edge of the cliff and say, “Ok, God-what do you want me to do?” No, your not going to feel safe..but as long as your in the will of God your going to be fine. I want people to look at me and see Christ. I want to be a potent person, a person who overflows with love for God. Granted, I may not always feel safe. It may mean getting out of my comfort zone and stepping out to the edge. It may mean making some radical changes-but who wants to get to age 50 and have someone tell you, “Man, you have great potential.” I know I don’t want to live like that.
The only way to become a potent person is to seek God more then anything. To search for Him like so many of us search for boyfriends/girlfriends, money, new clothes, or good grades. To let our lives be mirrors that reflect Christ. He’s not going to deny our prayers to have a hunger for Him. He’s waiting..He’s longing..He wants us to live for Him alone and to become people of potency not just people with potential.
