Listen to Insight

18 FEBRUARY 2019

This week we will continue examining and discussing the principles that lead to the achieving of personal and corporate vision. Last week we considered principle two in the list below from Dr. Myles Munroe namely: Know Your Potential for Fulfilling Vision! Potential was defined by Dr. Myles Munroe as “hidden capacity, untapped power, unreleased energy. It is all you could be but haven’t yet become. Potential is who you really are, in accordance with your vision, even if you don’t yet know your true self. Potential is the person who has been trapped inside you because of false ideas of who you are—either your own or others”.

We discussed how this principle on evaluating potential is equivalent to the 5^th of the 7 Fundamental Questions every leader must answer: “How do I get there?”. Without taking stock of potential and also evaluating what it takes to accomplish a vision, one cannot know how to “get there” or how to fulfill the vision. The gospels describe this as, “counting the cost” before undertaking a vision (Luke 14:28).

ABILITY AND PROVISION ALREADY AVAILABLE

Abilities and provision requisite to fulfill any God given vision are always available in potential form.

God will never call you to an assignment without giving you the ability and provision for accomplishing it. Refer to the definition of responsibility from last week’s installment for a better comprehension of ability and provision. Every human on earth has a God given assignment. This assignment may be described as a person’s life vision or mission. When was this vision of our lives birthed or set in motion? It is at that time that the ability and provision requisite for your calling were made available.  

Before we were formed in the womb God knew [and] approved of us [as His chosen instruments of righteousness], and before we were born, He separated and set us apart, consecrating us; [and] He appointed us as per our different callings in Him (Jeremiah 1:5). His eyes saw our unformed substance, and in His book, all the days [of our lives] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them (Psalms 139:16). We are His own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live] (Ephesians 2:10).

Notice God has predestined us to live the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live. It was at this time, even before we were born, that provision was made for us to fulfill our life assignments. We are not waiting for potential. We were deployed with potential.

Take a MacBook Pro for instance. It is the handiwork/workmanship of the Apple Company. When Apple designed it, Apple fitted it with every capacity and ability it needs to fulfill its mission. When Apple was satisfied that its handiwork was ready to be deployed, Apple placed its symbol on the MacBook Pro and added a warranty. Apple will never send out a defective machine. They only send out machines they are confident are ready for their life missions.

God never sends any handiwork/workmanship of His on a mission without first making sure they are ready, prepared, able and capable.

2 Peter 1:3 (AMPC)  For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge (epignōsis) of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).

He prearranged a great life for His handiwork/workmanship and made provision for ALL things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness for his handiwork/workmanship. The catch is that He did not put this ability or provision in a physical bank account or safe deposit box. However He made it available through epignōsis or through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue). Epignōsis is the full, exact or perfect knowledge of God. It is the knowledge that controls our actions or constrains us to act in accordance with the will of God. Our abilities and provisions are unlocked as we draw near to him and know him intimately. Lack of knowledge leads to perishing (Hosea 4:6). Closing that knowledge gap leads to flourishing (John 8:32; 2 Peter 1:3).

It is thus not wise for any true leader not to know Him (the Supreme Leader of all leaders) intimately. I was once asked by a Sierra Leonean, if Christianity is the key to success, how come the Arabs are successful? The answer is simple. Ishmael was singled out and blessed by God and yet until the Oil Shock, most of their wealth like Africa’s was controlled by the West. It was only after the Oil Shock and the formation of OPEC that they started to control their own wealth although much of that is managed by Western consultants. Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic and Sprit of Capitalism as well as the rather modern “Civilization - The West and the Rest” by Niall Ferguson sheds more light on how cultures that exalt Christ and his ethics and values prosper while those who do not suffer.

Going back to our second principle that must be adhered to so as to fulfill vision namely, “Know Your Potential for Fulfilling Vision”, it is imperative for a leader who wants to fulfil vision to understand that their potential is God given and connected to their life’s assignment. The ability and potential is also accessed by drawing close to God and knowing him intimately. This is the only way for a person to adequately evaluate their hidden capacity, untapped power and unreleased energy. In the absence of epignōsis, this potential will remain trapped inside you. What that means it is possible to properly evaluate the potential requisite for the fulfilling of a vision, but it is another thing entirely unlocking that potential.