I am potential!

          Some days ago I watched a movie entitled “I am Potential.” It’s the true story of Patrick Henry Hughes, who was born with a rare genetic disorder that left him without eyes as well as physically disabled. His parents were heartbroken when they were made aware of his condition but they didn’t love him any less. He was fitted with glass eyes and learned to move around in a wheelchair. As a baby, one day his father, a musician, realized that he was drawn to music and as he grew older, his father introduced him to the piano where he learned to play from memory. 
         He learned to move around on his own in his wheelchair and was determined to do as much as he could for himself. He was independent and had been taught by his parents to focus on his abilities instead of on his inabilities. He became a gifted musician, went to regular high school and university and graduated magna cum laude. He was even a member of a marching band. His father would push his wheelchair keeping in step with the other marchers as they did their formations while Patrick would play his trumpet. He did not allow his handicap to stop him from doing and accomplishing great things. 
         But what caught my attention was his determination and his choice to focus on what he could do. Once when he suffered an accident that left his leg in a cast for eight weeks. He had to face the reality that it made it difficult for him to reach the piano. Yet instead of giving in to discouragement he simply decided to switch to another instrument, the trumpet. As he reminded his parents, they had taught him not to focus on his disabilities but on his abilities. If nothing else caught my attention in this movie, that statement did.
         When life hits us and sometimes hits us hard, it can be so easy to focus on the negative; what we can’t or shouldn’t do because it’s too hard, too impossible. We may even tell ourselves that we don’t have it in us. But what if we do have it in us? When Patrick’s accident put him in the position to not be able to play piano for a while, his immediate response was “What am I going to do now?” He felt stumped, stuck, as if the wind had been knocked out of him and he couldn’t move. But the interesting thing is that that accident and its outcome was exactly what God used to remind him to put into practice what he knew. He was faced with another “disability,” but he had been taught to focus on his “abilities.” And what was his ability? To play a musical instrument. So, if he couldn’t play one instrument, he would simply switch to another, and he did. 
         We have a lot more in us than we realize. I think that God has equipped us with so much more than we are able to see sometimes. We get so stuck on the one thing we think we are good at, that sometimes God just has to get us to tap into the other things that may be there, even if He has to allow a negative situation to occur to help us realize it. 
         I think once again of David. He was a shepherd tending his father’s sheep. That seemed to be all he was capable of doing. No one took notice of him, he seemed insignificant. Yet, he was God’s chosen king for Israel. After being anointed as the new king of Israel (1 Samuel 16:1-13), the Philistine, Goliath, challenged the army of Israel. Israel was facing certain defeat. Yet, this negative situation was exactly what God used to bring David to the forefront, to show that he was more than just an insignificant shepherd (1 Samuel 17). He was also a warrior who, when he became king, successfully led his people Israel in many battles against their enemies. But it took a Goliath to help David and Israel see David’s ability, that God had deposited much more in him than any of them realised!
         Patrick didn’t just learn to play the trumpet. Thanks to him tapping into his abilities, he qualified to join a high school marching band! God had something bigger for him than just playing a trumpet. 
          Our view of ourselves can be so limited that we can miss the bigger things God wants to do in and through us. I look back at my own life and I remember when I felt as if doors of opportunity to minister God’s Word were being closed on me. It so turned out that those doors needed to be closed because that was how this blog and other opportunities for ministry were born. At the time, it felt discouraging, but I didn’t know that God was trying to point me to other platforms from which I could share the Gospel. I truly thank God for those shut doors because they gave way to other open doors that I needed to step through. What seemed like a disappointment turned out to be a great appointment by God!
          Whatever challenge or disappointment you may be facing today, remember that it just may be a set up by God. As His child, no challenge that comes your way will ever be able to defeat you but appoint you to something greater. So, as Patrick learned, don’t focus on your disabilities but on your abilities and keep your eyes open for the opportunities that God may be sending your way!
          If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as Lord and Saviour, I advise you to do so now. Allow God to take charge of your life and to do great things in and through you no matter what comes your way.

---