Jesus sees the potential in the empty or what seems unusable. Likewise, our lives might seem void or insignificant, but God sees what we can’t. Jesus is like a sculptor seeing the potential of an uncut stone. In many ways, we are that uncut stone waiting for the master to shape and mold us.
As Jesus was teaching along the Sea of Galilee, He noticed the empty boats as an opportunity. Luke 5:1One day, as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.[1]
To most people, the empty boats seemed insignificant, but Jesus looked beyond to see how He could use them to minister to the people around Him. Luke 5:3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. [2] A boat that was designed for fishing was now transformed into a teaching platform for Jesus to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
God Sees the Potential in Our Lives
It often takes the Lord’s intervention in our lives to set us on a different path because He sees what we can become. Before Jesus encountered Peter, he never thought of himself as anything but a fisherman. But then he met Jesus and everything changed. This is what happens when people encounter Jesus and are transformed.
A friend who was a prison chaplain told me a story of a man in solitary confinement. One day, he was able to minister to him and give him a Bible. For the first time in his life, the prisoner began to read God’s word. As the Good News of Jesus began to speak to him, he was deeply convicted of his sin and cried out to God for salvation. Soon, whaling came from his cell because he was so sorry for his sins. But he didn’t stop there. Then, he led a Bible study from his jail cell through the ventilation system, guiding other prisoners to Jesus.
This may seem hard to believe, but this is true. God saw the potential in a man that society locked away and transformed him from a prisoner to a prisoner on a mission for God. God also sees the potential in your life.
Trusting God With Our Resources
We all have perceived limitations, but that does not hinder God from using us. You may feel you have nothing to offer to God. The Lord invites us to trust him with our resources, as He transforms our emptiness with His purposeful calling. The greatest resource each of us has is our lives. As we surrender our lives to the creator of the universe, He begins to shape and mold us to do things we never imagined. When I worked in industry after college, I never imagined becoming a pastor, but God did. Remember, God sees the potential in the empty or what seems unusable! To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/the-radical-reorientation
[1-2] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.