Influenced or an Influencer.

Influence is a vital part of reaching potential. Influence is the difference between a follower and a leader. John Maxwell once said that a leader with no followers is simply taking a walk. Everyone has influence of some kind in life. However you can happen to influence or you can determine to. Influence can either put you over or hold you back.

Consider your friends. Is their influence on your life hindering or helping your growth? That question is perhaps a tough one for a new believer who may have had many non Christian influences in their peer group. Those friends may now be holding them back from fulfilling the call of God on their life. Hard as it may seem they may have to change close friends to those who will have a positive Godly influence on their lives. It does not mean they have to give up old friends entirely but it may effect who they run around with most of the time.

You have to decide, will you limit God by allowing someone else to create your world. God wants to create your world and He has your interests and your destiny at heart.

I remember some years ago now in the job I was working many people were leaving for better jobs in the private sector out of the civil service job I was in. Morale was low and many were mocking the prospects in those jobs. I could have agreed and been influenced by those people. However by then I had learned about faith and watching what you say. So I kept quiet, didn’t listen to them, and applied for one of the jobs. I was successful and increased my salary by one third and received a company car never looking back at what might have been. God took me onto the next level of fulfilling my potential in life.

Be Determined to Run Your Race

Hebrews 12:2 is a testing verse that carries great relevance for us in achieving potential. It says “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
We have our own race to run. We have to run. We have our own course to follow. No one else can do it for us. You are unique and God has a race for you. Now you may immediately count yourself out thinking you cannot run. However I found an intriguing verse in Ecclesiastes 9:11 that says “the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong”. Remember the old story of the tortoise and the hare. It is wisdom and consistency that will get us there.

Notice that verse says a race is set before us. It very much reminds me of the athletic field. I used to specialise in the long jump at my school and represented it on a number of competitions with other schools at sport. In order to get that jump right I had to pace out my run and then make a mark and set myself for the run up. If I did not and just lazily set off then I would miss the right part of the board and end up with a no jump. It is the same in life. We have potential, we have been born again but we have to come to the mark. We cannot expect to achieve God’s best for us if we don’t turn up or have a lack of focus. Many believers want in on God but don’t want in on the race. It is a challenge that requires discipline.

When you get born again the Lord has something for you. Something only you can complete. He has placed that in you. When you come to the mark and set yourself you maximise your potential. You take part choosing a course and direction for your life.

Secondly, the verse says the race is before you. You may have had a tough life, you may have made many mistakes that have held you back. It is time to see all those things are behind you. Now you have an opportunity to regroup your life, make your mark afresh and enter the race again because your race is always in front of you.

If that has been you then be encouraged. If you make a start you will not be disappointed. You cannot change the past but you can change your future and your race is still before you. God never gives up on you. He has been waiting all this time to begin working for you again. This Hebrews chapter goes on to tell us to look to Jesus. He is the author and finisher of our faith and therefore our race. He started something special in you and He will finish it.

Have a great race this month.