Articles
Fulfilling Our Potential
Scripture contains many accounts of men and women achieving amazing things in the service of God. While God was the power source behind many great feats, there were other situations in which believers acted out of their own resources.
Consider the case of Ezekiel. God reveals to the prophet a horrible fate: “I take away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke … and at evening my wife died” (Ezk 24:16,18). Ezekiel, along with many other exiles, had suffered mightily under the Babylonian yoke. But God is behind this tragic loss.
And that is not all. God then instructs Ezekiel: “Yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh in silence, make no mourning for the dead …” (24:16-17). Ezekiel’s reaction: “And the next morning I did as I was commanded” (24:18). God explains to Ezekiel that he is serving as an object lesson to Judah (24:24).
Last week we noted that some seem to think God would never ask them to do something challenging because He wants them to be happy. But if we opt to stay nestled within our comfort zone, we will never develop our full potential in serving God. It is only when God asks us to rise to the occasion that we soberly examine who we really are and what we actually believe. Let us rejoice, then, when God says, “I have a difficult assignment for you, and I trust that you can do it.” What a compliment from our heavenly Father!
