HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL
   Potential requires a proactive approach, if it is to be effectively developed. Once you have discovered your potential, you will need to take certain steps to   develop it, and they are:
   Accept and appreciate it. To appreciate your potential simply means to acknowledge and thank God the giver as well as value the gift, no matter how little or insignificant it seems. Whatever you do not accept and appreciate, will not develop in your hands. Many people make the mistake of rejecting and despising their potential simply because, it does not appear glamourous in their eyes. Potential by its nature is unrefined and therefore seemingly insignificant. It is like gold ore when it is first dug out of the earth. Its beauty and allure are masked by debris and impurities. For this reason, an ignorant potential recipient, if offered the gold ore, would turn down the offer. Conversely, a potential recipient who has knowledge of the intrinsic value of the piece of matter, will accept the offer with excitement and gratitude. Jesus accepted the five loaves and two fish, the indebted widow accepted the little oil she had, Moses accepted his rod, David accepted his musical skills and his sling and stones etc. Acceptance is the first key to the effective development of your potential. Therefore, do not compare yourself with others, but humbly celebrate what God has endowed you with.
   Deploy it consistently. Your potential requires that you use it as frequently as possible in order for it to develop. The principle of practice makes perfect applies here. Any man or woman whose potential has reached any significant level of development, has been honing it. For instance, David in the Bible, did not attain dexterity in using the sling, overnight. His skills were acquired at the cost of investing the requisite time and energy into practice. Your potential will never be refined and developed beyond your willingness to use it. Remember that it was as the widow of 2Ki 4 used the little oil she had, that it increased.
   Seek relevant knowledge about your potential. It has been said that knowledge is power and ignorance is not bliss. In fact the Bible says, …”a man of knowledge increases strength “(Prov 24:5). Knowledge will put you in a position to hone your potential effectively, thereby increasing your strength. A lack of relevant knowledge, on the other hand, is detrimental to potential. The acquisition of knowledge can take place in a formal or an informal setting, it does not matter. What is important is that you avail yourself of the opportunity. The Bible says, “Intelligent people are always ready to learn. Their ears are open for knowledge “(Prov 18:15 NLT).
   Persevere with it. The development of your potential will not happen without hurdles. It is a fact of life that, what does not cost to achieve or attain, will hardly, if ever, benefit anyone. Perseverance is indispensable in your quest for the development of your potential, for the unavoidable fact that you will encounter, opposition, discouragement and failure in the pursuit. However, if you keep your eyes firmly fixed on the prize, as Paul the apostle encourages in 1Cor 9:24-27, and as Jesus modeled when He kept His focus on the joy that was set before Him (Heb 12:2), you will outlast all the obstacles and win the prize.
   Finally, protect your potential when it is still in embryonic form. Your potential at this stage of its development is not ready to face certain challenges. Therefore, adopt selective exposure as a philosopy, until your potential is ripe enough to take on substantial challenges. Recall that Elisha’s exact words to the indebted widow were ,”And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all the vessels, and set aside the full ones “(2Ki 4:4), indicating the need for secrecy at that point in time. Who knows what the voice of a skeptic or cynic might have done to stall the process . Likewise, you need to be discerning of when to expose your potential and to whom or what. 

RELEASING YOUR POTENTIAL
   This is the final stage in the sequence of Unlocking Your Potential. This is the point at which your potential has acquired a significant degree of both capacity and marketability. At this level, your potential is sufficiently developed as to be useful for making an indelible positive impact on human history. Therefore, people consider your potential valuable, and are willing to pay for its utility. However, this stage requires to be handled with care. First you need to remember that your potential was not given to you for arrogance. God, the owner and giver of potential, frowns at the employment of His gifts and resources for hubris. Many a man or woman has had the unfortunate experience of having ignored the above admonition, at a great personal cost. Hence, the necessity of vigilance at this point. King Saul in the Bible, serves as a case in point. He had been endowed with the potential for kingship, though he was oblivious of this fact at the time he was looking for his father’s lost donkeys. However, Prophet Samuel, made him aware of it, at their first meeting. Eventually, through a series of events, Saul’s potential for kingship developed to the level of national prominence. It was then that God sent him on a mission which required a demonstration of his leadership. God commanded him to destroy Amalek completely, without sparing any person or animal. Nevertheless, Saul executed God’s commands to him selectively. He spared Agag the king of Amalek and the presentable livestock. How could a man, who initially had considered himself unworthy to be king, disobey God so brazenly? Prophet Samuel gives us the answer in the following words, “When you [were] little in your own eyes, [were] you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel?”(1Sam 15:17). Saul was no longer little in his own eyes before God. Unfortunately, he had become a ‘big man ‘ before God. Consequently, he lost his kingdom and his family lost the dynasty over Israel. The account above serves as warning that we would do well to heed. 
   You should release your potential on God’s terms. In other words, use it”… in the service of God and man…”(Gen 1:28 AMP), and only in that order. This necessitates humility. Only as we humble ourselves before God, can He use us effectively for His glory. We would do well to remember that, we are stewards of His manifold grace, and such, required to be faithful( 1Cor 4:2; 1Peter 4:10). In summary, our overall attitude towards deploying or releasing our potential should be:”… that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever…”(1Peter 4:11). Shallom.