Traumatic events occur in our lives and can often leave us shell-shocked, numb, and needing time to process what happened, how to get going again, and how to get back on track living up to our potential. Ever been there? Of course, it depends on the extent of the trauma or loss whether you need more time to process what occurred. So how are you doing with getting back on track and using your potential? What’s your potential anyhow?
Off-Course
Sometimes there’s an oops and we can find ourselves far away from where we started. Other times, we pick up and move forward from where we left off before the trauma or loss. The more hard-hitting the trauma or loss, the more likely we are to have an oops and find ourselves going in another direction. Just like the GSP system, we need to recalculate and get back on course.
Finding Your Way Back
Having gone through plenty of difficulties and having talked with hundreds of individuals who have hit rock-bottom and who have had horrible traumas and losses, there comes a point where we look back at where we were and have to decide whether we should even return to that point. How much of our potential were we using before that traumatic event occurred and how much are we currently using is the question that arises.
Learning About Your Potential
Wherever you’ve left off, whether doing something that was part of your destiny or not, you can look at how fulfilled you were doing what you did before that trauma or loss occurred. How do we learn about our God-given potential? Here’s a good starting point. Then read the owner’s manual! If you’re a Christian, that means read the Bible. If you think the Bible is boring, then find a translation besides the one you’ve been reading because you may understand the wording better.
A great website to find a variety of Bible translations is biblegateway.com. I personally like several translations like The Passion Translation(TPT), The Classic Amplified Translation(AMPC), The Message(MSG), and several others. The Bible is God’s tool to guide us in our lives. With the God living in us Who created the entire universe and each of us, we definitely have great potential! The world may try to define our success and potential it’s way, so we really need to know what God actually says about our potential and success. When we learn what God says about our potential, we can better pursue it according to what He says.
Discovering How to Use Your Potential
Once we learn what God says about our potential, we also need to keep in mind that God created us for a relationship with Himself and to accomplish things on this earth. Our potential is directly related to the gifts and talents He has put in us and to what He has graced us to do. For instance, a banker may have a much different set of skills, talents, and giftings than a physician, musician, technology expert, or mechanic. There are many ways to start uncovering our potential or getting back on course to walking in your full potential. You can start by Googling terms on potential and you’ll see what I mean.
Consider the skills that you already have, the things that really make your heart sing and make you feel vibrantly alive and happy. While this will be different for everybody, you might try some things of interest and see what happens. I love helping those less fortunate and have served individuals and families in a variety of ways. This takes you beyond earning money to what really makes you feel fulfilled.
The key when you find something that makes your heart sing is to hold those things loosely and allow them to develop however God may choose. Maybe what you once pursued shifted into another area of interest and then grow into something else. That’s okay. Talk to God and ask for His help in fully utilizing your potential, skills, and talents to do all that He created you to do. Sometimes after traumatic events or losses in our lives, we might find that the doors have closed to what we were doing. So we need to trust God to lead us to where He desires us to be and to utilize our potential as He wishes during the next phase of our journey. That’s all part of discovering our potential and letting Him open doors for us to serve others with it.
Conclusion
There will be more in future posts about maximizing your potential. For now, as a Christian, pursue what’s on your heart and ask God to lead you in the direction He desires. I would like to hear about your journey of discovering your potential. Feel free to do that in the comment section and I’ll be sure to respond. Thanks for reading!
This is such a powerful post. Really melted my heart.. I am a true believer and I believe God has plans for every single one of us and we all have the potential to be something Great. I have played the guitar for many years, but I found my calling playing Gospel music for people all over the world. I get to do two things I love at the same time , and for this I am very grateful to God.
How exciting to hear what you’re doing, Solomon! God’s plans are always best. We just have to ask Him for ears to hear and the “want to” to do what He asks. You’re right, we have great potential b/c there’s a massive God living in us. Thank you for your kind words. I wish you continued success and God’s best!
I have been through a very tough year with deaths , sickness, illness, job loss and so much more and I can honestly say it is because of my faith and belief that I never gave up.
I am not scared to admit i am not really a church goer but I am also not scared to admit that I am a believer and I know that goes a long way
Thank you for your article, it goes a long way in getting people to think of their situations.
Dale
Your year sounds similar to one I’ve had before. My 46 year old boss had a heart attack and passed away, so I lost that job; and then there were some health issues from all the stress. But, God got me through it all, just as He has you as well. As the fog from all the trauma lifts, I believe you’ll be able to move forward with greater clarity to discover God’s next steps for you and to maximize your potential. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your time. May God bless, comfort, and strengthen you as the memories surface of those who blessed your life for a season.
Hello Colleen,
Thank you for this inspiring article on realizing our potential. I have been in a few traumatic points in my life, and I admit I never really went back to reflect on why it happened and what I could have done better in my life to avoid it. Many times we blame ourselves or the world around us.
As a christian, it has definitely been a journey to find out the meaning of God’s word on our life and our reason for being created. There are many bible verses that relate to our struggles, even though the situations and times are different. The battle between evil and good still remains in the world just like it did back then. The world influences our actions and we need to be disciplined in god’s word to not act in harmful ways to our emotional health.
After a trip to Israel earlier this year to visit the Holy Land, I am just amazed by god’s vast glory and what he has created for that region. The media likes to focus on all the negative things that happen, but there are many godly acts that also happen in the region that go unnoticed. It is a spiritual place for so many for a reason. I would encourage anyone who is a christian to take that pilgrimage and reaffirm their faith.
I’ve found that some of the best teachers are those that have seen many cases and been able to help others change their lives for the better. It looks like you have achieved that in your career and I am inspired by that. I wish my profession was that rewarding. I felt like I started out with great intentions with healthcare architecture, but my passion has dwindled after seeing the real world business intentions of healthcare systems here in our country.
Thank you for providing this great road map to emotional and spiritual health. I look forward to reading more about your adventures!
Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts and experiences, Daniel. As a licensed healthcare provider, it is sad to see how the focus of healthcare has shifted so far away from the patients’ needs and concerns and so far into making money and reaching daily production goals at any cost. I won’t even get started on that! Ugh!
On a better note, you mentioned your trip to Israel. I’ve not yet been there, but I always hear that it’s magnificent.
We never know who all we’re influencing by our daily choices to follow God and His ways. Not everyone is called to be in a pulpit ministry, but each of us is called to be a success in God’s eyes by doing whatever He tells us to do. As we take steps doing what He asks, the Holy Spirit leads us to our destiny. Traumatic events may happen and temporarily knock us off course with our goals or even with God’s plans that we’re pursuing. But we have to trust Him to re-align us with His plans. I often wonder how many times God might be saying, “recalculating,” like the GPS says. 🙂 His plans always stretch us and maximize our potential. Wouldn’t you agree?
I wish you God’s best!
Colleen
Hello Colleen,
Very good article for people who are going through issues in their lives.
Being a Christian, it is good to see someone prescribing the Bible to those who are in need.
It being the Word of God, and has the power to draw people closer to God, who is our strength and source of healing.
Another great resource in studying the Word of God is at Bible Hub.
It has many translations and access to the bible commentaries and the Interlinear tab which is great for in depth study.
Thanks for sharing this information, it will help many people find some relief.
Thank you for your kind words, Chad! There are many great resources out there for studying the Bible. Thank you for adding the Bible Hub. Without God’s help, we really can get deeply stuck when traumatic events happen and have difficulty maximizing our potential. I know I can’t do life without God! 🙂 Thanks for taking time to leave a comment.