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The undeveloped, wasted potential in this world is pathetic. Everyone was created to do something great-great in its own realm. Each of us has the potential to become great at something-a great wife, a great mom, a great seamstress, a great husband, a great father, a great businessman. But whatever we do, we should not have little ideas, dreams or visions.

Little things are important, and we should never despise the day of small things. But we ought to have big ideas, dreams and visions because we serve a big God. I would rather have a big dream and see half of it come to pass than to have a little dream and see all of it come to pass.

I believe that when God created all of us, He formed and fashioned each person, breathed the breath of life into us and then took a little part of Himself and placed it within each of us. One of us may have a musical gift, another may have a speaking gift, another a writing gift. The problem comes when we try to take the gift God has given us and use it to do what someone else is doing instead of developing our own potential.

Each one of us is full of potential. We have a part of God in us. We are not a mistake. We don't have to spend our lives on the back burner. We are not too old or too young. We have God-given dreams and visions. But the dreams and visions Cod gives us for the future are possibilities not “positivelys.” (That's the way God spoke it to me a long time ago.) With Him, nothing is impossible, but it also takes our cooperation and willingness through determination, obedience and hard work to develop what He has put in us.

IT ALL STARTS WITH A SEED

The manifestation of our God-given dreams and visions does not appear overnight. It grows from a seed planted in our heart by God and nourished and nurtured by us day after day until it gradually springs forth as fruit in our lives.

It is similar to a seed that is planted in a woman's womb at the time of conception. The baby doesn't appear immediately. There is a nine-month development period.

We often see patterns in the way God does things, and Cod uses the pattern of birthing in many areas of our lives. He starts with a seed, which He plants in us in the form of a thought, a dream, a desire. In order for that seed to grow and develop, we must nourish and nurture it, being careful to watch over it and protect it because the devil is a master at stealing seeds. Then one day that seed springs forth as the manifestation we desired.

That is what Jesus meant when He said that the devil comes only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy… Jesus also said that Satan is a liar… and the father of lies… Between stealing and lying, he keeps the majority of the human race from ever doing much of anything.

I am living proof that anybody can fulfill the call of Cod on their life if they want to. In the natural I don't have a lot of gifts and talents. But I have a mouth, and I am using it for the glory of God. As a result, I have the joy of fulfillment because I have devoted the time and effort it takes to develop what God placed in me.

We all have potential but not all have a willingness to work hard. When a twenty-year-old is a concert pianist and you hear them playing beautifully, you know immediately that they spent years practicing while their peers were playing games, running around with their friends and doing fun things that young people love to do. That concert pianist may have lost a lot of good times, but instead, spent the time developing their potential. They've developed something that will bring them joy the rest of their life.

Many people will never experience that kind of joy because they are not willing to pay the price for it. They would rather have a “right now” good time.

It concerns me that so many people spend their time satisfying their flesh and, as a result, end up empty inside.

You will enjoy the fulfillment of your potential when you develop it. And the way to do that is by keeping at it, refusing to quit and never giving up.

Copyright © 2001 by Joyce Meyer

Tags: Christianity

About the Author

JOYCE MEYER has been teaching the Word of God since 1976 and in full-time ministry since 1980. She is the bestselling author of more than fifty inspirational books, including How to Hear from God, Knowing God Intimately, and Battlefield of the Mind. She has also released thousands of teaching cassettes and a complete video library. Joyce's Enjoying Everyday Life radio and television programs are broadcast around the world, and she travels extensively conducting conferences.