How appropriate that today would be a day that I spend much in the Bible to understand the power of the potential within you. I turn on the TV and see that the biggest piece of news in the world is the second inauguration of our black president. Even bigger is what dress his black wife chose to wear for the night. There was a time that this could never be, as the society had written it.
I think on my own lifestyle as a young black woman. I go to a restaurant and expect top quality service. I drive in the night, trusting that I won’t be stopped by police because of my color. I graduated from a university that reputed is around the world. My president and I are standing on one man’s dream – Martin Luther King. It was God’s vision buried deep in his heart and he dared to unearth it. He never knew us, but he spoke out from what was in his heart: someday, black people like myself and America’s president would exist. And 50 years later, so it is.
Every man – YOU and I included – was created with a mandate to mark the universe. How am I sure? When He made the first man and woman, God spoke to them saying, “Fill the earth, and subdue it.” In other words, this is your territory to create and dominate. We’re all born with that desire to dominate. Haven’t you noticed that every time you ask a child what they want to be, they reply with a dream that is soooo grand? You don’t have to teach a child to dream. It’s an innate, God given quality.
But somehow, as they grow older, most people trade their dreams for what society dictates: Go to school, stay out of trouble, get a job, buy some things, pay some bills, retire and die. I’ve gone to school, stayed out of trouble, I’ve gotten a job and I’m thankful for it. It’s nice to not have to keep my hand on the fuel pump at the gas station so that I don’t buy more $5 worth of gas. It’s nice to buy things I need without thinking twice about it. But the God in me says THERE IS MORE, so I cannot rest. More in me that keeps crying, “Let me out!”
There is much more in me than this job, this salary, this 401k, these vacation days demand of me. There are much more seeds in me “that grow into trees, that have fruit that have seeds, that grow into trees, that have fruit, that have seeds, that grow into trees, etc” – Myles Munroe. For generations to come. I dare to speak it out, and so shall it be.
My freedom is a product of the seed God put in Martin Luther King’s dream. That means that in my dreams, in your dreams, are seeds that grow into trees, that have fruit, that have seeds, that grow in trees etc. Things that will mark the earth forever when they find expression. If they are dreams that keep tugging at your heart and won’t let you escape, that’s your future screaming at you. Don’t you dare sleep on them. Don’t you dare allow anyone to tell you they are worthless. Don’t you dare allow anyone to tell you they are childish. Don’t you dare allow anyone to tell you that you can’t do it.
PS: I dare you to tell me that these videos do not stir up your heart. Watch now: The Power of Your Potential