“How” To Reach Our Potential

 

As a recovering perfectionist, God is always giving me encouragement to break free from my ingrained tendencies. Reading through the Bible this year gives me insight into why this personality trait is not only harmful, but also deceptive.

Life is not always as it seems. Nor is faith for that matter. What seems so “perfect” on the outside is not necessarily indicative of the inside. And vice versa. Case in point being the first chapter in Luke.

At first glance, Zechariah seems to be the poster boy of perfect faith. It says in Luke 1:5-6 that he was a priest, upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. Wow! One would expect much from the faith of a man such as this. If anyone had just the right church lingo or answers to all the Bible study questions, it would be him. Yet, the unexpected and the unexplainable can rattle the faith of the best of us, signaling flaws we never knew were there.

This is exactly where we find Zechariah, as he was on duty in the temple of God burning incense, when suddenly the angel Gabriel appeared before him. The angel announced that Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth were finally going to be parents of a son! God had heard his prayer and granted their heart’s desire…..and then some!

They were to be the parents of the long prophesied man who was to prepare the way for the coming Lord (Isaiah 40:3-5, Malachi4-5-6). As the angel Gabriel explained the magnitude of the role they were to play in God’s redemptive plan, questions flooded Zechariah’s mind. But these were not inconsequential deliberations. They revealed flaws in the faith of a man who should have known better than to utter the doubtful “how”.

This response would not seem so surprising , even shocking, except for the contrasting response of a young, teenage girl in the very same chapter, experiencing much the same scenario with the angel Gabriel . In Luke 1:28-33, he appears to Mary announcing she is to give birth to a son, Jesus, and He will be the Son of the Most High, and will given the throne of David. This is equally as unlikely a normal possibility as Zechariah and his barren wife conceiving in their old age because Mary was a virgin at the time. But Mary responded quite differently, even though she uttered the very same word as Zechariah, “how“.

What makes such a contrasting difference between the older religious expert and the young inexperienced girl is the way each question was asked. They both asked “how”, but in completely different context. Zechariah asked the angel,

How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years?

while Mary asked,

How will this be since I am a virgin?.

In essence, Zechariah asked in unbelief while Mary asked in faith! He asked doubting. She asked believing. Oh what a difference ! Both were perplexed at the circumstances and improbabilities, but only one trusted beyond what could be seen or explained.

We know one asked diffently than the other because Zechariah was rebuked by Gabriel and silenced for his unbelief, unable to utter another word till his wife gave birth. The angel gave to one judgement, and to the other, an explanation. What a difference of faith between the expert and the inexperienced, between what seemed polished to perfection and what appeared humble.

We can spend a LOT of time “perfecting” our potential without seeing much profit of what matters most. The perfection we pursue, even in our faith and ministries, cannot compare to the child-like faith that glorifies His name. Sometimes what is least obvious in potential is what delivers the most. Mary believed beyond what she could understand while the religious expert asked for proof before he would believe.

Mary teaches us that having the most polished Christian potential is not the goal in our church communities. She inspires us to believe God through the unexpected and unexplainable. That is how she reached her potential- by believing! Isn’t that the definition of faith anyway?!  “Being sure of what we hope for and certain of what is not yet seen”(Hebrews 11-1) describes how we are to wait in expectation for all that God has planned. And that is exactly what Mary did as she waited. Luke 1:45 plainly details her response to the angel even further.

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished.

No matter how unlikely or how unfathomable, faith believes! For who could have predicted that God Incarnate would be born of a virgin in a lowly manger to save the world? Mary couldn’t, but she believed it anyway…..

What is causing you to doubt? Are you finding it difficult to believe something from God? Are you letting the improbable define your potential? Remember how taking God at His Word is what truly enables us to reach our potential. So leave the rest of the details to Him like Mary did and just BELIEVE!