How To Reach Your God-Given Potential
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” - Luke 6:38
Over the last couple days we have discussed what it looks like to “play with the cards you’re dealt” or in other words, how to use God’s gifts to reach your true potential and fulfill the calling He has for your life. As exciting as it is think about the idea that God has a special and unique purpose just for you, so many people fail to ever recognize their God given potential. We are continuing to talk about the reasons why one fails to reach that potential.
Yesterday we discussed the threat of comparisons and how comparing yourself to others can hinder the work God intends for you to do. Today, we are going to talk about expectations. While comparisons are often the threat we create ourselves, expectations are often the threat created by those closest to us. Maybe it is a parent that wants you to eventually take over the family business or attend the school all your older siblings graduated from. Or maybe someone in your life has developed an arbitrary timeline of when you should be married and have children.
No matter who you are, others will always have expectations for what you should do. The problem is, these expectations are not always in line with God’s plan for your life. Listening to others and what they believe you should do can disrupt the direction God is leading you in and taint the impact you can have based on the gifts He’s given you. This is not to say you can never listen to those closest to you, as they often just want to see you succeed. But it is far more important to find success by being obedient to God rather than chasing the idea of “living up to expectation.”
Do not let the expectations of others, whether it be your family, friends, or even the haters in your life, distract you from pursuing God’s mission for your life. Ultimately you will find far more success pursuing His will than the will of any human being.
Over the last couple days we have discussed what it looks like to “play with the cards you’re dealt” or in other words, how to use God’s gifts to reach your true potential and fulfill the calling He has for your life. As exciting as it is think about the idea that God has a special and unique purpose just for you, so many people fail to ever recognize their God given potential. We are continuing to talk about the reasons why one fails to reach that potential.
Yesterday we discussed the threat of comparisons and how comparing yourself to others can hinder the work God intends for you to do. Today, we are going to talk about expectations. While comparisons are often the threat we create ourselves, expectations are often the threat created by those closest to us. Maybe it is a parent that wants you to eventually take over the family business or attend the school all your older siblings graduated from. Or maybe someone in your life has developed an arbitrary timeline of when you should be married and have children.
No matter who you are, others will always have expectations for what you should do. The problem is, these expectations are not always in line with God’s plan for your life. Listening to others and what they believe you should do can disrupt the direction God is leading you in and taint the impact you can have based on the gifts He’s given you. This is not to say you can never listen to those closest to you, as they often just want to see you succeed. But it is far more important to find success by being obedient to God rather than chasing the idea of “living up to expectation.”
Do not let the expectations of others, whether it be your family, friends, or even the haters in your life, distract you from pursuing God’s mission for your life. Ultimately you will find far more success pursuing His will than the will of any human being.
Posted in Daily Devotional
Subscribe Now for Free Daily Devotions
Recent
Archive
2026
January
When God Feels Silent but is Still at WorkHow to Rebound After a Crushing LetdownWhen Your World Falls Apart After You Did Everything RightGod Is Still Building Roads in the DesertThe Chapter That Comes After TraumaWhen Hope Feels GoneWhen Your Words Start Working Against YouGod’s Resume Is Bigger Than Your SituationWaiting on God is Not Doing NothingBefore Circumstances ChangeGetting In Your Bag When Life Feels UnfairWinning With a Bad HandOverlooked, Insulted, and Still ChosenPrepared in the Field Before the Giant AppearsYou Were Trained for This MomentTaking Off Armor That Does Not FitFormed in the Field, Not on the StageWhen the Battle Is Not Actually YoursWhen You Feel the Urge to Go Through God’s PhoneFaith After Disappointment Still CountsKeep Showing Up Even When You Are ConfusedLocked Doors Do Not Stop JesusWhen You Need an Encounter for YourselfDoubt as a DoorwaySaying What Hurts When God Is in the RoomWhere Faith and Fear CollideShutdown Does Not Mean FinishedWhen Opposition Shows Up Mid-ProgressBuilding Without Responding to the MockeryA Mind to Work in the Middle of WearinessThe Wall Rose Because the People Did Not Quit
February
When Faith Blocks the ViewThe Cost of Carrying the CrossPower Was Never the PointGod Meets You Where You AreFaith That Chooses People Over ProfitWhen the Cross Loses Its MeaningClearing the View So Christ Can Be SeenWhen Worry Becomes a Way of LifeGod Is Not Surprised by Bad LeadershipWhen God Writes on the WallGod Controls the ClockGod Is Watching the ScaleWhen God Writes the EndingYou Do Not Have to Carry This Alone
2025
January
Plenty of RoomThankful for Your SeatWho God Invites to the TableThat’s the PointWe Do Not Have a Monopoly on GodStop Talking So LoudLet God Handle the Guest ListA Long-Awaited ReunionSeeing Jesus for YourselfIn Possession of a Personal PromiseGet in the Right PositionReady to ReceiveAligning Your Life for God's PromiseWaiting with ExpectancyGrounded in PrayerStrength in PrayerPatience Through PrayerStay Focused Through PrayerGod's Conditional PromisesGod’s PriorityGrounded in FaithTrusting God's TimingThe Assurance of God's PromisesIs It Well With Your Soul?Health vs. HealingStewarding Your BodyA Holistic View of SpiritualityGod Cares About Your BodyWhat You Put in MattersNourishing Your SoulThe Power of Prevention
February
The Power of a ComebackHealing from the PastStop Blaming and Start TrustingBury the Past to Claim the FutureFacing Trauma with TruthCelebrate That You SurvivedRepair What is BrokenNothing God Can’t FixDon’t Swing at Bad PitchesStick to God’s PlanDon’t Let Desperation Drive YouShift Your WeightWho Knows Best?A Good Idea Isn’t Always a God IdeaPeace in God’s PlanFinding Purpose in God’s PlanProsperity in God’s PlanTrusting God’s Plan, Pace, and ProcessKnowing When to PivotGod Hasn’t Given Up on YouNext-Level Faith Requires PerseveranceA New Revelation of GodIt’s Not All About YouNext-Level Connections

No Comments