Born March 24, 1820, Frances Jane Crosby, better known as Fanny Crosby, became blind as an infant. A blind girl in that time could have crawled up in a corner and given up on life. This one didn't! By the end of the 19th century, she was a household name and one of the most prominent figures in American evangelical life. She wrote 8000 hymns, with over 100 million copies of her songs in print. She wrote over 1000 secular poems, had four books of poetry published, and two best selling autobiographies. She was committed to Christian rescue missions and was a well known public speaker. It seems that she worked hard at reaching her potential!
We are all unique! After God made us, He threw away the mold! There are no more like us.
Each of us have different capacities. We are like drinking glasses... some of us hold 8 ounces, some 16 ounces, and a few 24 ounces! Our capacity is not the issue, we had nothing to do with that, it was our Creator's decision. What we do with the capacity we've been given IS the issue!!
Fanny Crosby couldn't control the fact that she was a blind girl in the early 1800's. She could control how she responded to her situation!
I cannot control the fact that I don't have the IQ of Einstein. I can control how much I feed the intellect I do have, learning as much as I can.
I cannot control the fact that I'm not as tall and talented as former basketball player, Michael Jordan. I can control how committed I am to keeping the body I have in good, healthy shape.
It is useless for me to compare myself to people like Einstein and Jordan. It is very useful for me to look at myself, understand how I'm made, what my potential is, and what I can do to maximize that potential!
So, avoid comparing yourself to others and get on with reaching YOUR potential!
How can you reach your potential? In my opinion, it is a life long process. Reaching your potential is a journey more than a one time arrival at a destination. Everyday you can get a little better in some area of your life. That can happen through several different means or channels... More in the next post!
