Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential (7 page)

H
ELEN
K
ELLER WAS ASKED ONE TIME WHAT
would be worse than being born blind. She quickly replied, “To have sight and no vision.” I’ve found that if you ask successful people what has really helped them get where they are in life, invariably they’ll talk about a goal, a dream, a mission, a purpose—something that has been motivating them throughout the years to become what they have finally become.

Tragically, our world is full of what I would call mundane men, people who see only what is immediate. They only reach out for things they can tangibly put their hands on. They go for the convenient. They never look beyond themselves, and they never look at what they could be. A mundane man may be a truck driver, a bank president, or a schoolteacher. Mundane men can be found in every profession. A mundane man is really someone who lacks depth because he lacks vision. The poorest person in the world is not the person who doesn’t have a nickel. The poorest person in the world is the one who doesn’t have a vision. If you don’t have a dream—a goal and a purpose in life—you’re never going to become what you could become.

There is a distinguishable difference between successful and unsuccessful people: Successful people are motivated by a dream beyond them. They have a dream that is bigger than themselves; they have something that constantly keeps them going. It’s out of their reach, and yet they believe that if they work hard enough, they will someday hold that dream in their hands. That’s a successful person. Unsuccessful people are only motivated by today. They are not tomorrow thinkers. They’re not looking beyond themselves. They grab with gusto the present, not even taking into consideration what tomorrow may present them.

When you receive a vision that could change your life or you’re grabbed by a dream that could really help you become what you want to be, there’s a natural sequence that happens. First, there’s the “I thought it” stage. That’s when a dream just flashes by.
Could it be? Maybe this is for me. What would happen if I did that?
That’s the “thought it” stage. Every person goes through this stage. Probably not a week goes by in which we don’t dream.
Could this be me? What would happen if I did this?
We go from the “I thought it” stage to the “I caught it” stage. After we think about some of the dreams that we have and the visions that God gives us, we get excited, and we begin to talk about that dream and see ourselves in it.

I think everyone goes through these first two stages. But stage three makes the difference between the person who will be successful and the person who won’t be successful. It’s what I call the “I bought it” stage. After we catch that dream, there’s a time when we have to put a deposit down on it. There comes a time when we have to make an investment in it to make it happen. No dream comes true automatically. We have to buy that dream.

The successful person goes into that third stage and buys the dream. They decide to pay the price. But just as the successful person buys it, the unsuccessful person fights it. It’s at that stage they begin to rationalize; they begin to think about why it wouldn’t work, why it’s not possible, and they begin to fight the dream that God may have given them to reach their potential. People who are not going to reach their dreams stop at this third stage. They don’t buy into it; they fight it—and they never become what they could become for God.

The fourth stage is the “I sought it” stage. This is where desire comes in: We begin to want it so much that it possesses every part of us. Finally comes the “I got it” stage: I can touch it with my hands. This is where I say,
It’s mine; I’m glad I paid the price; I’m glad I dreamed the dream
.

I was in college when Robert Kennedy was assassinated, and I remember one of my college friends coming in and sharing with me that morning that Kennedy had been killed. In the days immediately following his death, there was much written about him in the newspapers. I cut out a quotation of his that I’ve never forgotten. I’m not sure it was original with Kennedy, but it was said about him, and I hope it can be said about all of us. “Some people look at things as they are and say, why? Some people look at things as they could be and say, why not?” There are people who see only what is and constantly butt their heads up against the wall and back away with Excedrin headaches. They haven’t figured out that if they stand on their tiptoes and peek over that wall, they will see that there is life beyond. They’re always asking,
Why did this happen to me? Why am I a victim of my circumstances?
But there are other people who have learned to look beyond limitations and barriers. They can see beyond and say,
Why not? Why can’t this happen to me?

When Hubert Humphrey died, I began reading a lot about his life. He wrote a letter to his wife in 1935, during his first visit to Washington, D.C. Here’s what he said. “I can see how someday if you and I just apply ourselves and make up our minds to work for bigger things, we can someday live in Washington and probably be in government, politics, or service. Oh gosh, I hope my dream comes true. I’m gonna try anyhow.”

Let’s look at the apostle Paul. I think one of the key ingredients in his life was his vision. Not only did he see what he was, but he also saw what the grace of God could enable him to become. It was that vision that kept him steady throughout his ministry. In Acts 26:19, when he stood before King Agrippa, he said, “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision.” In spite of all the problems he had run into in his ministry, in spite of what was about to happen to him, he had been obedient to the dream God had given him. The vision Paul was given by God did several things for him. First, it stopped him. If we have a great dream, if we have a challenging vision, it will stop us right in our tracks.

While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” And I said, “Who are You, Lord?” And the Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 26:12–15)

Our visions may not be quite that profound. Few of us have a Damascus road experience. But like Paul, if we have a great vision, it will stop us in our tracks and let us glimpse what we have the potential to become.

What happened in Paul’s life can happen in our lives. When we see ourselves properly, there are a couple of things that will happen. One, we’ll see our position. We’ll see who we are. We’ll see what we are doing. We’ll see where we are going. This can be discouraging because we may think,
I’m not accomplishing what I want to accomplish; I’m not being what I want to become
. But all people who have the potential for greatness first of all have to see themselves as they are, and usually that’s discouraging. When Paul saw that he had been persecuting Christians, when he saw that he had been thwarting the plan of God, when he saw that he had been buying into the wrong religion, no doubt he was discouraged. Remember when Isaiah had a vision of God? It stopped him. He began to see himself, and his first comment was, “Woe is me” (Isa. 6:5). In effect he was saying, “Wow! I’m in trouble. I’m not what I should be; I’m not what God wants me to become.”

When we have a vision from God and it stops us, we not only see our position, but thankfully, we also see our potential. We see our possibilities. The good news is that God believes in you, and he will not allow you to see yourself and your problems without allowing you to see your potential. He’s not going to frustrate us; he’s going to encourage us and help us see what we can become. Isaiah went from “Woe is me” to “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa. 6:8).

Five things happened to Isaiah. He saw God, and when he saw God, he saw a holy God. That took him aback. When we see the holiness of God, we see our own uncleanliness. Second, he saw himself, and he saw that just as God was holy and perfect, he was needy and imperfect. Then he saw others; he looked at the multitudes around him. He saw God, he saw himself, he saw others, and then he allowed God to change him. At that point one of the seraphim picked up the coal from the altar and placed it on Isaiah’s tongue. God took him through a purification process. Fifth, Isaiah began to stretch. He began to say, “OK, God, allow me to be a part of this dream. Allow me to reach out and be what you want me to become.”

The value of a vision is that it encourages you to give up at any moment all that you are in order to receive all that you can become. In other words, once you’ve had a glimpse of what God can make of you, you’ll never be satisfied with what you now are. You will be willing to let go of whatever might keep you from actually realizing that vision. You can probably think of times in your life when this happened to you. Do you remember when you first fell in love with the person you married? All of a sudden other members of the opposite sex were not that interesting to you anymore. You were willing to trade in the pool for the one.

I have found that you do one of two things in life. You either pay the price now and enjoy later, or you enjoy now and pay the price later. But you will always pay the price. I’m constantly amazed at the shortsightedness of people who are not willing to pay the price now. Some people are shortsighted about their bodies. They’re not willing to give up those pleasurable things that are destroying their bodies now in order to gain a few good years later. Some people are shortsighted about their finances. They can’t give up any of today’s luxuries in exchange for tomorrow’s financial security. And some people are shortsighted spiritually. They are so caught up in the pleasures of today that they can’t see the pain of tomorrow: They’re not willing to totally sell out for God. They’re trying to avoid the price, but the price will always be there. You can either pay it today and enjoy life tomorrow, or you can enjoy life today and pay the price, plus interest, tomorrow. You cannot avoid the price.

I have always been very goal conscious. For that reason, even though Margaret and I had been dating since high school, I decided we would not get married until I graduated from college. While I waited through four years of college, I watched a number of my friends marry during their sophomore and junior years. You can guess what happened to many of them: Grades fell, financial hard times hit, and discouragement set it. Even so, they were encouraging me to go ahead and get married. But I remember thinking,
You guys weren’t willing to pay the price. I’ll set my goals and pay my dues. The time will come when I’ll be enjoying a fantastic marriage, plus the fruit of my ministry, and you guys will still be struggling
.

I can point to five or six of my closest friends from college who are still struggling. They sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. We either enjoy life now and pay for it later or we pay for life now and enjoy the fruits of it later.

When Paul had a vision, it stopped him, but it also sent him. Any God-given dream will never just stop you; it will always send you. The vision or the dream God has for you will allow you to touch other lives. So, Paul was stopped, he saw himself, he saw his potential, and then he was sent. After the vision had stopped Paul, the Lord said to him, in effect, “OK, Paul, you’ve looked at yourself long enough; stand on your feet.”

For this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. (Acts 26:16–18)

Like Isaiah’s vision, Paul’s vision would help him touch others. A vision first requires that we see ourselves and then that we see others. No person is successful in fulfilling God’s dream for his life until he has begun to positively affect the lives of those around him.