Your Potential

John 21:15 to 17 says this.

So when they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, [son] of Jonah, do you [agape] love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I [phileo] love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs.

He said to him again the second time, Simon, [son] of Jonah, do you [agape] love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I [phileo] love you. He said to him, Shepherd my sheep.

He said to him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonah, do you [phileo] love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you [phileo] love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I [phileo] love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. [GBMV]

This passage of Scripture took place after Jesus had resurrected from the dead and before He ascended. He appeared to His disciples on the beach and made them some fish. This then was part of the conversation that took place. 

Jesus gave Peter three clear ministries to do. But right about now, I think Peter must have felt like hanging his head in shame. Why? Because he had a clear case of foot in mouth disease when Jesus was arrested. 

He had been all big mouth before Jesus was arrested. He said that he would never leave Him and was willing to die with Him, but then he went and messed it all up by denying three times that he even knew Jesus.

If you have done something like this yourself, you will know that it is the most humiliating thing that can happen. You want to disappear off the face of the earth. And you certainly don’t want to face the person that you made a fool of.

But Jesus understands us frail human beings. He understood what took place with Peter, and he did not condemn him. Instead, He gave Peter three ministries to carry out. I’m pretty sure that after messing up so badly, Peter thought that he wasn’t capable of doing even one ministry, let alone three. 

He likely felt weak and foolish and not worthy of doing anything. But Jesus saw a very different aspect to Peter. Jesus didn’t look on Peter’s failure in the natural. He looked on his potential in the spiritual. The Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. 

Peter was certainly foolish in the eyes of the world. But he was the perfect candidate for the Lord to use, because he would never again rely on his own strength. He would only rely on the Lord to help him. 

So, if you feel like you are not capable of doing anything for the Lord, don’t look at yourself in the natural. Know that the Lord sees your spiritual potential and He knows what you are capable of. This is the most important thing to Him. The only thing you need to do is to say,

“Here I am, Lord, foolish and weak as I am. But thank you for filling me with Your Spirit and for helping me to rise up in You.”

If the Lord calls you to something and you don’t feel capable of carrying it out, know that He will never give you something that is too big for you. He will rather lead you a step at a time to rise up in Him. You simply need to follow where He leads you and what He teaches you day by day. Soon you will look back and realize how much you have grown. 

I pray that you would let Jesus show you the amazing potential that you have in Him. Put your eyes on Him and let Him show you how He sees you. It will always be far greater than you can imagine. 

Many blessings,

Daphne Crause
Apostle and Servant of Jesus