Living Up to One’s Potential

“By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.”  Hebrews 11:31

There are several Bible personalities, men and women, who, at some point in their lives, really messed up.  Scripture is not timid about revealing them to us, warts and all.  We tend to think that God can only use people who have a near perfect record as it comes to their lifestyles and thought processes, but there are very few major Bible characters who could fill that bill.  Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego come to mind as men about whom was no taint of disobedience to the LORD.  They were some of the most faithful men in scripture.  Rahab was a prostitute, earning her living in such a degrading way.  She sold the most precious thing she owned in exchange for probably a few pennies.  David committed adultery with Bathsheba, who became pregnant, then had her husband sent to the front lines so that he would be killed, and David’s sin would hopefully be covered up.  Solomon, the wisest human who ever lived, allowed his foreign wives to influence him into idolatry.  Peter betrayed Christ in His hour of need.  Paul, before he became a follower of Jesus Christ, was pursuing Christians and have them jailed and/or executed, and thought he was doing God a favor.

At some point in their lives, though, they came to the realization that God was real, that He was sovereign, and that He had a purpose for each one of them, but they had to place their trust in Him, turn from their sin, and commit their lives to Him.  I am not sure about Solomon.  It was in his later years that he became an idolater so I guess we could say that his path was the reverse of the others.  He started out as one of the great kings of Israel, blessed by God with wisdom, fame, and wealth, but turned his back on God and worshiped idols.  He was one who swapped his potential for momentary pleasure.

Rahab helped the spies of Israel to escape from Jericho because she had come to believe in the God of Israel.  When Jericho was destroyed, she and her family were spared.  She eventually became the great, great grandmother of king David, who ruled Israel for 40 years.  It was through his line of descendants from which Jesus Christ came to earth.  David is called a “man after God’s own heart” because he never became an idolater.  Even though his later years brought shame to him, Solomon was allowed to build the temple in which God’s people worshiped for many years.  Peter became one of the most dedicated evangelists in spreading the gospel and died a martyr for the faith.  Paul, too, became a great traveling evangelist, planting many churches throughout Turkey, Macedonia, Greece, and other places around the Mediterranean Sea.  He also wrote many of the New Testament books of which we still study today.

If God can forgive and use a prostitute, an adulterer and murderer, a betrayer, and a Christ-hater to build His kingdom, surely, He can use us.  We tend to classify sins on a scale of one to five with one being gossip or a “white” lie and five being murder, but sin is sin, a violation of God’s perfect standard.  However, to repent and turn from sin gives God the opportunity to make our lives useful and fruitful for His kingdom.  How better to make a difference in this old world?  If you are like me, you tend to think that there is not much that you can do to build God’s kingdom on this earth.  When we think like that, we limit our potential because we are fearful, doubtful, or not as mature spiritually as we would like to be.  We compare ourselves to those we might call the “super” Christians, those whose relationship with Christ seems so far ahead of ours.  However, Christianity is not a competition.  Everyone has different abilities.  It’s not so much what you are able to do, but rather what you do with your abilities that makes a difference.  God doesn’t ask us to do something without giving us the ability to do that task.  Our potential doesn’t really lie within ourselves, but rather in Christ.  There is an old saying that goes like this:  “I can do anything if I have the right tools”.  To build the kingdom of God requires two things:  1.) on our part, it requires the willingness to work, and 2.) on God’s part, it requires Him to give us the right tools to do the work.  His toolbox is packed with everything to do the task He requires, but are we willing to do the work?  We will never know our potential unless we leave our comfort zone and trust the Lord to bless our efforts.  “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”. (Philippians 4:13)