Did Jesus Reach His Potential?
Did Jesus Reach His Potential?
Ask a room of Christians whether Jesus reached His potential or fulfilled His purpose, and most will say both. Some get a bit perplexed. It's a question worth sitting in.
Jesus didn't reach His potential. He achieved His purpose.
Think about what was actually available to Him. He could have clicked His fingers and saved the whole world on the spot. Done. That was the potential — and He never went near it.
Instead: I only do what I see My Father doing. Locked in, focused, finishing the work He was given rather than the work He was capable of.
Why that matters on a Tuesday
Most business owners I meet are measuring themselves against capacity. What could I build if I pushed harder, hired faster, scaled sooner? Then the gap between that and reality gets filed as failure.
I've done it. You get to a point where you've got the stuff, you're giving generously, you're paying good people well — and you're still restless, because there's more you could be doing.
But God leads from the inside out. It starts with who you are and whose you are, and it flows outward from there. It doesn't start with what you're capable of.
Assignments have a start and a finish
An assignment is more like a project than a job title. Some people carry one their whole life. For others it's a season, then something else.
Abraham's assignment was to raise a family. That was it. To be a dad.
I've sat under Bill Johnson's ministry for years, and one line of his has stuck with me more than most — whether you're changing nappies or raising the dead, it pays the same in the kingdom. There's no ranking system. Someone's assignment might be ironing another person's clothes, and in God's economy that isn't small, because we're a body and every part is doing something.
The bloke with the guitar
One of the men I've worked with had more failures than wins in business. Good at it, didn't love it. When we unpacked his assignment, God told him he wasn't primarily a business owner at all — he was made to support evangelists.
His next instruction was almost comically simple. Take your guitar to the local park and worship.
So he did. Stood in a public park, singing, for whoever happened to be there. A team from Christ for All Nations walked past, stopped, and asked who he was affiliated with. He said nobody — God just told him to come out here.
They train evangelists. That connection changed the whole direction of his life.
And his business partner noticed something. Whenever he was out on the street being intentional about his assignment, the clients kept coming, debts got forgiven, the business was looked after. It got to the point where his partner would say: cash flow's dried up, you haven't been out on the street — go.
Walk towards what intimidates you
If your assignment feels uncomfortable, that's not a stop sign. I've found the areas where I feel most intimidated are usually the doors I'm meant to walk towards.
The enemy picks up your trajectory too, and the only weapon he's got is lies. The only authority he gets over your life is what you hand him when you believe one. I'm not good enough. I can't make it. Get rid of them, and ask God what He says instead.
You don't need a big business or a big mission to matter. There's no such thing as insignificance in the kingdom.
