I like riding the up escalator. Looking up or looking at what is to come.  However, we need to keep looking forward. We need stop ourselves from having the mindset of being satisfied with the things of the past successes. God awaits for our next adventure.

We all know someone or you have find yourself living below your potential. We were truly blessed with many gifts and talents, and so many great things happening in our lives, but we simply became too comfortable and settled with where our life has taken us. What we often forget is that God wants us to reach beyond the present to go even further.

We are called to increase life, happiness, wealth, love, and significance to the world. He has more in store for us then just our present lives and our past. We are seeds in the fields who haven’t finished growing. It is our responsibility to elevate to new levels in our abilities. We need God more during this time and we will see the vast improvements to our careers, our finances, and our relationships.

Remember we should be thankful and count our blessings. But God isn’t done with us. If I learned anything is that God is competitive with Himself. He likes to surpass and outdo His blessings to us. He wants us to be more blessed today then the day before.  Hence, we can keep pressing forward to make a bigger and better impact in the days to come. So if you are preacher, you haven’t spoken your best sermon yet. If you are a barista, you haven’t made your best cup of coffee yet. God tells us that are best days are coming.

We need to stop discouraging ourselves and talking down to ourselves. Get rid of that negative thinking.   No more thinking, Why can’t get a break? Why can’t I get that job or promotion? Why can’t I find that special woman or man? What’s wrong with me that no one wants to date me? We are God’s creation. His breath lives in us. We were made in His image. His greatness is in us. We have the capabilities to perform our destiny. We were born with the talent, the creativity, the desire, and the determination to go beyond our current potential. It is already in us. Our potential is an untapped well. We have to our part to dig in, get our hands dirty and do the work. We need to put in our very best effort to make better use of the abilities provided us with. It is our job now to be creative.

We are created by our loving God. Scripture teaches us we are special. However, just because we are special doesn’t mean we can sit and do nothing. We are special because God granted us with abilities to love each other more. Our talents and treasure is in service to others. I think you can agree we have come across that person who is really great at their job; like that doctor who you really like and has that special touch with his patients or that customer service representative who solves your problems and alleviates the stressful situation when your order is wrong or the wrongful charges on your credit card. Someone out there needs your special abilities.  Someone will need what your offer. God wants us to accomplish something.

So we are already know that we have great potential. But, are we ready to break free from our own limitations and elevate to the next level? Past failures often leave us with memories and fear. We find ourselves ignoring or walking around situations or dilemmas because of what happened before.  To elevate our potential we need to press forward and trust God more.

In high school I was overweight, and I remembered my peers telling me that I can’t do a certain thing because I was too big. I remember feeling like I couldn’t do anything right. I am too slow and unattractive. I felt beaten up physically and emotionally. Spiritually I was a mess too. I doubted God and blamed Him for everything. Then one day, I prayed that things would be better. I think when we pray God doesn’t just grant us our greatest desires but grants us opportunities to make things better. After that day, I made an effort to think more positive. I decided every day that I would thank God for something I am. I would start the day saying, I am a good listener. I am good at consoling at those with great pain. I am funny and I am reliable. I am a great friend. I trusted God and I was starting to heal from my self-esteem. I stopped listening to those peers who put me down and spent my time building the relationships with people who appreciated me. Someone will always need what you have to offer.

My point is what people think of you does not determine your potential. God has placed our potential to be great in each of us. We cannot allow negative thinking and bad attitudes to fester and grow in us like a cancerous tumor. We have to endure and press forward. God doesn’t let us dream without providing us with the necessity ability to obtain our dreams. He didn’t promise He would just give it to us, but He did provide all the tools for us to elevate ourselves to obtain our dreams and desires.

God doesn’t make mistakes. We may often find ourselves overwhelmed and find it impossible to go after our dreams. We must take a minute and remember God lives within us and He will not disappoint us. He will give us the opportunity to accomplish anything. God will not ask of you without already giving it to us. It is with great faith, you will discover gifts inside that you never knew were already there.

At times we will get rejected and knocked down. Don’t let discouragement grow in you. Don’t settle and don’t rationalize why it can’t be. Do not give up too easily on your dream. Just like God opens doors He will also close doors too. While we may not understand why He does what He does, it is important that we trust Him. It’s been life experience that if the door closes it’s because God has something better in store for me. I like to think that God is my GPS and he sees a traffic jam and I need to be rerouted. So when things feel like a dead end, trust that God will get you to where you need to be with the people who need you the most.