Alan W. Goff
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The Poorest Person in the World
The following is an excerpt from Life Patch.
The poorest person in the world is the person without a dream. The most frustrated person in the world is the person with a dream that never becomes reality. I am certain that every individual on this planet - no matter which race, culture, nationality or socio-economic status - has had a dream of some sort.
The ability of children to dream is a natural instinct instilled by God himself. No matter how poor or rich you are, all of us have childhood dreams. These dreams are visual manifestations of our purpose, seeds of destiny planted in the soil of our imagination. Purpose is the reason why something was made. It is the end for which the means exists. It is the source of the dream and the vision you carried in your heart from childhood. It is the key to your fulfillment.
Each of us comes into this world with an assignment to fulfill. God commissions us to leave something for future generations from which they can learn and be inspired. The abilities to complete these assignments lie within us. The tools are our natural talents, gifts and ambitions. I firmly believe that the greatest tragedy in life is not death, but life - a life that fails to fulfill its purpose. When you become aware of the tremendous potential that resides within you, you are obligated to release that wealth to the world around you.
We all know that every manufacturer makes a product to fulfill a specific purpose, and every product is designed with the ability to fulfill this purpose. In essence, the potential of a product is determined by its purpose. This is true of everything God created, including you. The purpose of an acorn is to reproduce trees. Therefore, by God's design, they possess the ability or potential to fulfill this purpose. However, just because a seed has the potential to produce a forest, it does not mean it will. One of the greatest tragedies in nature is the destruction of a seed or the isolation of a seed from the soil. Consequently, the death of a seed is the burial of a forest. Having ability is good, but keeping ability is bad.
Your life has the potential to fulfill your purpose. If, however, you imprison that potential, you rob your life of its purpose and fulfillment. You and every other individual on this planet posses an awesome treasure. Too much of this treasure is buried every day, untapped and untouched. Much talent, skill and creativity have been lost to the world for want of a little courage.
Courage is that one ingredient which separates the strong from the weak, the successful from the unsuccessful, and the great from the average.
Many obscure men and women enter eternity pregnant with potential, with a stillborn purpose. Living with ability brings responsibility. Dying with ability reveals irresponsibility.
Everything in creation was designed to function on the simple principle of receiving and releasing, sowing and reaping. Life depends on this principle. What if the plants refuse to release the oxygen they possess or if we refuse to release the carbon dioxide we produce? The result would be chaos and death for the entire planet. Unreleased potential is not only useless, it is dangerous - both for the person or the thing who failed to release it and for everything that lives with them. Dormant potential is not healthy, advantageous, safe or effective. You must understand that your valuable deposit of potential was given to enrich the lives of others. When potential is kept, it is self-destructive.
The tremendous potential you and I have has been locked inside of us, waiting for demands to be made on it. We have a responsibility to use what God stored in us for the good of the world. We dare not leave this planet with it. Many of us are aware of the ability we have inside, but we have been frustrated by our failure to release that ability. Some of us blame our historical circumstances. Others blame social status. Still others transfer the responsibility for their failure and frustration to their lack of formal education or their less than ideal opportunities.
Over the years, I have come to realize that no excuse can be given to justify the destruction of the seed of potential that God placed within you. You can become the man or woman you were born to be. You can accomplish the vision you see. You can build the business you planned. You can develop the school you imagine. You can accomplish anything. You are the only one who can stop you. No matter what your environment, you have the ability to change your attitude and your internal environment until they are conducive to the germination of your seed of potential.
During this Easter season, I pray you understand that the world needs what God deposited in you for the benefit of all the generations to follow.
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