WHAT?

So Elisha said unto her, “WHAT shall I do for you” Tell me, WHAT do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil” – 2 Kings 4:2

Our fourth fundamental Question is ‘WHAT – What Have I’? This is the Question of POTENTIAL: capped capability, dormant ability, latent talent, untapped strength, and hidden grace and gifts waiting to be released and unleashed. Potential is God’s gift to you; what you do with it is your gift to Him! May God open your eyes to see that you have more than you think you did!

God asked Moses “What is in your hand?” (Exo. 8:20). By the time Moses caught the revelation of potential, his hitherto ordinary rod became the instrument of divine authority and power for performance when it was time to divide the Red Sea (Exo.14:13-15). Moses’ rod is symbolic of the believer’s faith by which we overcome in the barriers and battles of life. Every believer has a dimension of divine potential called “Faith”: “…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith” (Rom.12:3b).

Elisha asked the poor widow “What do you have in the house?” (2Kgs. 4:2). She almost said “Nothing” but quickly remembered that she had a little jar of oil. The widow’s oil symbolizes for us believers the anointing of the Holy Spirit and every other resource we have by His Spirit, which God is able to multiply for our prosperity.

Most people are not achieving significant portions of their true potential because they lack understanding of the nature of the Potential principle; hence, their potential remains largely untapped. Potential is not what you have done, but what you can do. Not what is, but what could be. There's a wealth of potential within you, but you must decide if you will deprive the world or bless it with the rich, potent resources locked away within you. Manufacturers prepare the specifications, environment, conditions and operational standards for maximizing the performance levels of their products. God our Creator-Manufacturer has also established a plan for the maximum performance and release of our potentials. Violating these standards will result in abuse, misuse, distortion, and malfunction of our precious potentials.

Here are seven vital keys to releasing your full potential:

Know your Source – God: you possess His nature and eternal spirit. He guarantees maximum performance of your potential if you remain related to Him and submit to the conditions, instructions, specifications and standards set by Him.

Understand how You were designed to function. You are God’s product; meant to function as He does. You were created to function by the fuels of the spirit – faith and love (Rom.1:17; Heb.11:6; 1Jh.4:16). .

Know your purpose: the reason or original in­tent of your existence. God created and made you for a purpose, and gave you the potential to fulfil it. Purpose gives birth to re­sponsibility, and responsibility makes demands on potential.

Understand your resources: God’s tremendous material and physical deposits to sustain and maintain you in realizing, developing, and maximizing your poten­tial. But you must never worship re­sources or become controlled by them.

Have the right envi­ronment to maximize your true potential. God created everything to flourish within a specific environment. When this is violated, the potential for life is disrupted and possibly de­stroyed.

Work out your poten­tial: latent ability is useless until it is given re­sponsibility. God planted in Adam potential to subdue, rule over and replenish the earth and everything in it. But he was not aware of his potential, until God gave him work (Gen.2:15).

Cultivate your poten­tial like a seed. Feed it the fertilizer of positive company, surround it with the environment of encourage­ment, drench it with the water of God's Word, under the sun­shine of prayer, and watch it blossom and bloom.

What is in your hand? What do you have in your house? What do you have hidden in your heart? Your potentials will bless your world and benefit God’s kingdom. Like a proud parent, God enjoys watching you use the potential, abilities, and talents He has given you. How much pleasure is God deriving from your life and the deployment of your potential?