What Are You Doing With Your Life?

The Potential (Increase)




Potential. There is so much of it in people, in LIFE.  

To original

On Friday when I left the house I noticed that my phone was in a pocket which I felt it had a high likelihood of falling out of. So, (while cycling, clever me.) I tried to take it out of that pocket and put it into a safer one. Obviously, and very ironically, I dropped it in the midst of the swap. The car behind me hooted as I slowed down and stumbled off my bike. (It was early in the morning and I was half asleep, hence my smoothness.) What I had thought was a "Hey get out of the way you crazy girl, I'm driving" sort of hooting turned out to be a very friendly "You dropped your phone! Let me help you" kind of one instead. The guy pulled over, came out, and while chatting away about "What a shame" and "Luckily it's a Nokia" he collected the scattered parts of the phone, dusted them off and reassembled them for me - all this before I had even properly got off my bike. 


"He must have had coffee that morning," I reasoned (with my unscathed Nokia in my safe pocket) as he drove away. "Or maybe he's just a morning person... A hectic one, with a love for noticing things early in the morning." This guy's actions replicated Christ, whether he intended to or not. He saw a need, and he jumped out his car, his comfort zone on a cold morning, to help. We are called by God to be alert and aware in our daily life. 

1 Thessalonians 5.5 says "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self controlled."  

There is so much potential in each moment of each situation of each day to be doing something for God. Are we? 

As I cycled on the word came into my head. Potential. It is there in the small moments of life. The fleeting conversations that occur with the people also waiting to cross the road. That short connection/smile with the drivers who let me cross the road (and a slightly different connection/stare down with the drivers who nearly drive me over because they have their indicator on, but still drive straight through the intersection...) The breeze is so fresh, especially now with winter coming, and bikers give each other a curt nod as they pass, like an acknowledgment that we're part of the same people. 

to original

But how about taking it one step further? Stopping for a moment longer to talk with the security guard, or giving a sandwich to the boy selling crafts on the corner. How about making an effort with the people we interact with on a daily basis on our commutes to work, school, home? My dad just told me about a co-worker of his who has taken the same 1,5 hour train ride to work every day for the last 20 years. They have formed a solid sort of club, every morning and evening the same men sit in that same carriage and play cards. What a way to impact people! If there is even one christian in that group, what potential to reach people!

Do you see what I am saying? Life moves so quickly, we are easily caught up in our ruts, easily left to auto-pilot, and we miss all the potential for dramatic outbursts from our ordinary life! Whether it would be helping someone across a road, or just a friendly smile in passing, we really should be looking for ways to increase our impact on our communities.Everyone wants to make a big impact, but you'll never know where even the smallest ones will lead.


I was in a tourist shop today at Cape Point, and they had these African symbol necklaces. The one with the symbol for life said 
  "May you live every day of your life."

Though it sounds weird at first, the more I thought about it the more insightful it became. 
May you live every day of your life. It's like that old song that goes "I don't want to live and just... breathe."

Make the most of every day!

Jesus says in John 9.4, "As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no-one can work."

original

I'm really feeling this sense of urgency for us as Christ-followers, because we really don't have a lot of time. Many of us don't see the opportunities because we are only expecting it to hit us in the face in the future, when we are older, or wiser, or have more time for that sort of stuff. I've been in and out of this thought pattern as well, and last Friday morning really snapped me out of it.

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day! Don't wait for tomorrow. 
There is so much potential in each and every life. The question is will the lives use it?


P.S (Which shouldn't really be a P.S since this part is super important!)


We can't fulfill our potential by ourselves. We need God's help, and this comes in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we walk in step with him, spend time with him, our eyes and ears will start to pick up the things He picks up, we'll get onto his wavelength and you might start noticing things around you in everyday life you didn't notice before. It's incredible what a difference God can make in a life!

:)