“God Still Sees Your Potential, Do You?”

Judges 6:15-16, “But Gideon said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the LEAST [SIGNIFICANT] in Manasseh, and I am the YOUNGEST (SMALLEST) in my father’s house.”  The Lord answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and YOU will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] ONE MAN.” (AMP)

There was a sign that read Antique Auto Show, so Rob and his wife decided that they’d take fifteen minutes and stop at this car show and look at the antique autos. They were really interested in seeing the ones that went back to the 50s and 60s. And as they continued looking, there was this one car that stood out amongst all the rest. It was a sleek, black ’66 Mustang that had a flawless exterior, a rich interior, and the hood was even open so you could look at the horsepower underneath. However, there, sitting on the engine block, was a thick photo album. And it wasn’t the guy’s wife, children or grandchildren either. But it was his car! At the beginning of this photo album there were BEFORE pictures of the car. And let me tell you, it was trash when he started! The first pictures were of this rusted, wrecked, banged-up Mustang that no one in their right mind would claim as their property! Come to find out though, it was the car he deliberately chose to buy. And as you looked through the book, step by step you could see the car was slowly being Transformed. It took months, maybe even years for the owner to give patient attention to get this beautiful classic to where it stood now before them. I believe that when the owner saw that wreck, he saw more than a wreck. He actually saw something that others didn’t see, he saw potential. He saw that despite what it looked like now, he already had a mental visual of what it would look like later. Despite what it looked like on the surface, he saw the potential that could be developed in it if he simply dug a little deeper.

Well, that leads us straight to Judges 6. God is looking for a general for His troops, someone who will be a mighty commander and beat the Midianites who have intimidated and terrorized the Israelites for years. And He speaks to Gideon in verses 11-12, “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, MIGHTY WARRIOR.” (NIV).

And what was Gideon’s response? Verse 13 reads, “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (NIV).

However, verses 14-16 reply like this, “The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”  But Gideon said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the LEAST [SIGNIFICANT] in Manasseh, and I am the YOUNGEST (SMALLEST) in my father’s house.”  The Lord answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and YOU will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] ONE MAN.”” (AMP).

Okay, here is Gideon. He’s hiding in a pit. He doesn’t look like a mighty warrior…at all. Yet, God comes along and says, “Mighty Warrior!” Surely, you’re thinking just like I’m thinking, this is no mighty warrior! But God didn’t see what Gideon WAS. He saw what he COULD BE, what he WOULD BE and what He intended to MAKE HIM. And that’s the very same place where many of us mess up and get stuck at! We get so consumed by where we ARE, and where we’re NOT; who we ARE, and who we’re NOT; what we CAN and what we CAN’T do. That we never consider a vision from God’s point of view. I find it absolutely amazing that BEFORE Gideon does anything, God calls him a “Mighty Warrior”, IN ADVANCE! Unlike us, God doesn’t get stuck in what we ARE, but His focus remains on what we CAN BE! And so God speaks contrary to Gideon. Gideon sees someone insignificant, unimportant, irrelevant, small even, yet God sees him as a “Mighty Warrior”! Question: How do you see yourself? How do you speak to and about yourself? What do you see for yourself? Do you consider yourself “Mighty”? Gifted? Smart? Anointed? Special? Beautiful? Handsome? Called? Equipped? Treasured? Well, in case you don’t, I’ve stopped by to inform you that you need to double check your eyesight! Because situations and circumstances should never distort how you see yourself, because they certainly do not distort how God sees you! No matter what your marital status is, how many children you have, you don’t have or that you’ve aborted or miscarried. No matter your education, employment, ethnicity, or back ground. No matter what your father was, what your mother did, where your family’s from, you are still a “Mighty Warrior” in the eyes of God…NOW…it’s time that you see yourself the very same way. Stop spending so much time focusing on what you’ve done or left undone that you become stagnate between the two. There’s so much more to you then yesterday. Today is a new day and with it needs to come a new outlook on your life, despite your mistakes, flaws, failures, bad decisions, errors in judgment and the like. Just look at Peter.

Same thing happened with Peter. Matthew 16:13-19, “When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. AND NOW I’M GOING TO TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE, REALLY ARE. YOU ARE PETER, A ROCK. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. “And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven…” (MSG)

I imagine when people heard this they said, “Did He just say Peter? He’s not a rock, rock-headed maybe, but he’s no Rock!” Truth is, when he came to Jesus he was sort of a flake. He was always up and down and inconsistent. But Jesus saw the rock He was going to make him into. And that’s the problem with us, we remember (and certainly everybody else remembers) how bad we’ve messed up, what we did, when we did it, who we did it with, how often we did it, where and why, and YET, Jesus looks beyond our hard heads and still sees a Rock! How awesome to know that regardless of how messy we’ve been, God still sees a masterpiece in us! In fact, He looks at us the way that Mustang owner saw that banged-up car. He sees the value in us more than we do. That’s why He invested life, death, burial, resurrection, cross, crown, pain and blood all for us, His Messed Up Masterpieces! Even when we only saw Worthless, He deemed us as Worthy! He knows the person He created us to be. And in God’s words, “For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].  FOR WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP [HIS OWN MASTER WORK, A WORK OF ART], CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS [REBORN FROM ABOVE-SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMED, RENEWED, READY TO BE USED] FOR GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED [FOR US] BEFOREHAND [TAKING PATHS WHICH HE SET], SO THAT WE WOULD WALK IN THEM [LIVING THE GOOD LIFE WHICH HE PREARRANGED AND MADE READY FOR US].” (Ephesians 2:8-10 AMP) Even as messed up and banged up as we were, God still saw in us “…HIS WORKMANSHIP, HIS OWN MASTER WORK, A WORK OF ART…” How can you possibly view yourself as junk, when God Himself sees you as “…A WORK OF ART…”? YES EVEN YOU!

Like the Mustang owner, God’s photo album shows where you were and His step-by-step rebuilding process to where you will one day be.

See, if you believe how God sees you, then there are some important changes in how life should look to you. First, when you’re down about who you are, look back at the old pictures. Look what you used to be. You’re becoming something aren’t you? Remember what you used to do, how you used to act, how you used to think, how you used to talk, where you used to be, who you used to be around, and see where you are now. No, you haven’t made it all the way yet, but neither has any of us! So learn to celebrate where you are, and where you’re heading, knowing that God sees the Best in you always!

Psalm 103:6-18, “God makes everything come out right; He puts victims back on their feet. He showed Moses how he went about His work, opened up His plans to all Israel. God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, He’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs. As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is His love to those who fear Him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, He has separated us from our sins…” (MSG) So, stop holding your past and mistakes over your head, when they’re under God’s feet! He remembers them no more, now it’s time that you do the very same thing! Today is a good day to move forward! A good day to start over fresh without yesterday’s baggage! Your problems don’t hinder your potential. It’s still there. God sees it, and so should you!

Second, when you’re down on yourself, realize you’re not finished yet! The rebuilder is in the Process! Look at it like this, have you ever taken the time to look at a construction site? It’s an absolute mess! There’s dust, dirt, debris, everywhere! Nothing is together, nor does anything look anywhere near like what the blueprint suggests it should! There are people in hard hats, dirty clothes, they’re sweating, tired, yelling, machines of all sorts are running noisily, there’s signs of danger up everywhere because the site isn’t finished yet! And even at the end of the day when they go home, they don’t forget about the site! They come back the next day and work some more. Why? Because what’s on blueprint has to become a building! And God is no different with you! You may not look like much in the eyes of some, or even in your own view. But God is still at work! Daily He’s making you better! Daily He’s adding, subtracting and dividing just so you can be multiplied in the end. Daily what you are to become is seen more and more by many! So stop fretting yourself and judging yourself by what you see today! God isn’t finished yet, but He’s promised He will! The Bible says in Philippians 1:6, “I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will [continue to] perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus [the time of His return].” (AMP). You have God’s Word that He will finish what He’s started in you so don’t you dare consider giving up in the middle of the process again! Can you imagine if after day one on a construction site that the construction workers said, ‘that’s it, I quit! I refuse to work on this project any longer. We’ve been working at this thing all day and into the evening and still it looks nothing like the blueprint!” Listen: Any building that goes up in one day, is guaranteed to come down in one day!  There’s a reason construction is such a slow process. The foundation is the most vital to be established and you can’t rush foundation! The wiring is essential, the plumbing is important, walls, floors and ceilings need great attention to detail. And why is all of this significant? Because if it’s not done right, somebody’s going to be severely hurt! And that’s what happens when people attempt to rush God’s process of rebuilding for their lives. They want to run out and preach, teach, prophecy, travel the country, lay hands and overseer mega ministries. They want to start business, churches and ministries. They want to get married and have children. And yet, they want to do all of that without being properly processed first! The end result, they hurt themselves and everyone attached to them because they rushed a process that needed proper timing to be fully established!

Listen, I get it, it’s been some years now and you’re still wondering God what is going on?! How much longer? When are You going to do this? Have You forgotten about me? Saints, please believe me, your God does not have Dementia! Your God does not have Alzheimer’s! I promise you, He remembers every word He spoke to you and about you and every single word will come to pass, in season! Let God finish the work He started without your doubt delaying it’s development!

Habakkuk 2:2-3, “And then God answered: “Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time.” (MSG) Wait and Watch God Work in His Timing, Not by Your Deadline!

And third, when you’re dealing with other people, look for and encourage the person God is building in them. Be part of His rebuilding project in their life. Tell people what they could be. Tell them the good you see in them – the potential. You see, the word “potential” is defined as “having the capacity to develop into something in the future; qualities or abilities that may be developed and lead to future success or usefulness.” And to take it a step further, its Latin Origin “potentialis,” from “potentia” literally means “power”. People of God, no matter how bad off a person may be, they still have potential, they still have the power to become better! So don’t judge them, don’t put your negative mouth on them, don’t keep bringing up their past! Like You, they still have the power to become more! I’m here to tell you from personal experience, there’s nothing worse than an individual holding another person hostage by their past. Let them grow, evolve, and change for the better…in their time, in God’s time, not yours! So back off a bit! Give them space and room, just like you needed!

You see, when you take dirt and throw it on a fire it’s called “smothering”. In throwing dirt on a fire you smother it, you extinguish it, which means you stifle or suffocate it, you cut off the air and prevent it from breathing, which prevents it from growing. That’s also what you do to people when you keep harping on them for their mistakes. You smother them! You suck the life right out of them. You hinder them from glowing and growing. Stop It! Even embers that have dimmed down, are still hot to the touch! They just need a little stoking. And so do people! To “stoke” is to “encourage, incite, or add to”. And that’s all most people need to find their potential again. They just need someone that will see past their Gideon and see a “mighty warrior”; they need someone who will see past their Peter and see a “rock”. And often stoking doesn’t take much. You would be absolutely amazed at the fire that could return from just a few empowering pokes of encouragement. “I believe in you; I’m proud of you; you’re doing great; I appreciate having you on our team; keep pressing; don’t give up; you are so valued; thank you for what you bring to the table; you can do this; you’re getting better; look how strong you’ve become; look how much wisdom that taught you…” Try it on someone today and you’ll be just like Peter: “but I have prayed [especially] for you [Peter], that your faith [and confidence in Me] may not fail; and you, once you have turned back again [to Me], STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT YOUR BROTHERS [IN THE FAITH].” (Luke 22:32 AMP). That’s what we should all do daily, as God betters us, we should help others get better too!

Think about it like this: Can you imagine the mental stress it would put on players if they were in their own home town with their own home-court advantage, yet their own fans booed them the whole game?! Even when they’re winning, all they hear is a constant stream of boo’s! Would you be encouraged by that? Then why do it to others? Realize that people are trying their best, and many after several losing games, are still coming back again and again, giving it everything they’ve got. Also remember, your brothers and sisters are on the same team as you! They are your allies not your enemies! Support them and encourage them! Don’t smother their future success with the ashes of their past! Encourage your brothers and sisters so that their faith and hope stay intact in the process! Let them know that you’ve got them covered! That you have their back! That you’re on their team! That you believe in them! Isn’t that what you would want to Receive? Then Give it! You can’t expect to throw dirt on someone else’s potential and think that God is going to allow you to grow from it!

Like the Classic Mustang in the above story, we ALL have a beginning that we’re not so proud of. We all of chapters in our book of life that we don’t read aloud or share with anyone else. We all have flaws, mistakes, and failures. We’ve all made bad decisions and judgements. We’ve all fallen far short of God’s grace, characteristics, standards and mark. And yet in His eyes, we’re still a masterpiece! It takes time to take mess and make it a masterpiece, but God is willing to put the time in. So, no more complaining about yourself (or others). Let God complete the work He began. Enjoy the step-by-step process. And when you get a moment, just reflect back over your life, and see just how far God has already brought you. You may be more inclined to ease up on yourself and others. Your potential is still intact, just wait and watch God produce something powerful with it!

We must remember Gideon: “But Gideon said to Him, “Please Lord, how am I to rescue Israel? Behold, my family is the LEAST [SIGNIFICANT] in Manasseh, and I am the YOUNGEST (SMALLEST) in my father’s house.”  The Lord answered him, “I will certainly be with you, and YOU will strike down the Midianites as [if they were only] ONE MAN.” (AMP) Gideon saw himself and his family as the least significant; the youngest and smallest, and still God spoke not about what Gideon was currently, but about what he going to be. “…YOU WILL STRIKE DOWN THE MIDIANITES AS [IF THEY WERE ONLY] ONE MAN.” Gideon saw himself as powerless; but God already saw him as powerful. And He sees you the very same way. God calls you Mighty Warrior, in advance of the battle, because He knows He’s already equipped you to fight and win. See yourself through the eyes of God just like that.

Likewise, we must remember Peter: “…AND NOW I’M GOING TO TELL YOU WHO YOU ARE, REALLY ARE. YOU ARE PETER, A ROCK. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. “And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven…” (MSG) Jesus informs Peter of his undeniable identity in God, “…YOU ARE PETER, A ROCK…” Your validation need only come from Jesus. You don’t need to be in the pastor’s favorites club; you don’t need 10 positions and 20 titles and 30 initials; you don’t need rings, crosses and robes; you don’t need specially assigned chairs in your honor. You just need to have a listening ear for Jesus to tell you who you are in the Kingdom. And once He does, talk and walk like it; act like it; live like it.

God Still Sees Your Potential, the Question is, Do You?

“God’s plan is always the best. Sometimes the process is painful and hard. But don’t forget that when God is silent, He’s doing something for you.”

“Trust the process. Once you have prayed, let it go. Have faith that God heard you the first time, and is working on your prayer right now.”

“God’s purpose and process are tied together.”

“God knows your value; He sees your potential. You may not understand everything you are going through right now. But hold your head up high, knowing that God is in control and He has a great plan and purpose for your life.” (Joel Osteen)

“Don’t squander your potential living a life that amounts to far less than the one you are capable of living.” (Zero Dean)

“Potential is a priceless treasure, like gold. All of us have gold hidden within, but we have to dig to get it out.” (Joyce Meyer)

Much Love, Dr. Shermaine #EnjoyTheRead #BeInspired #BeEncouraged #BeEmpowered #BeChallenged
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