“An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.”
~Proverbs 13.23
If I gave you a treasure map and told you, “X marks the spot. There is a 100% guarantee that the treasure is there. Go, find it, and it is yours.” You might ask what tools you will need to retrieve the treasure, but it is doubtful that you would turn down such an opportunity. The potential to be wealthy is a good motivator.
The truth is you are promised riches and a way to retrieve them. Not only that but you have also been told what tools you need. The only question is, How badly do you want to be wealthy?
Solomon encourages his son to pursue wealth, true wealth. This wealth comes in many forms. In my article, Wise Wealth, I discussed a few riches the king-in-waiting should pursue: wisdom, righteousness, humility, integrity, and power. A wise son will seek to fill his treasury with these eternal riches.
All these riches are potential, which means they haven’t been obtained. God has hidden them in the ground and expects us to work to extract them. “There is an abundance of food in the fallow ground of the poor….” (Pr 13.23) That abundance of food is not mature fruit buried. Potential food will come through plowing, planting, and watering. God, in his providence, promises that the food is there. Growing food is not an impersonal, mechanical, cause-and-effect process driven by “natural law” independent of God’s continual work in creation. The food is there by God’s promise.
Though God promises food when you plow up the ground, plant, and water, all the work must be done to realize the promises of God. Peter tells us that God has made great and precious promises to us. Therefore, we should make every effort to build up our treasures of virtue (2Pt 2.3-11). God promises. We work. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; it is the glory of kings to search out a matter” (Pr 25.2).
Because we are made from the dust of the earth (Gen 2.7), we are plots of soil with hidden treasures. We are called to be fruitful like the earth. We are purified like gold and silver that comes from the earth. We are represented by precious gems that are also mined from the earth. God has locked potential wealth in you and expects you to make every effort to draw it out and develop it.
How do you do this? How do you unlock your potential? At the risk of sounding like Tony Robbins, let me give you a few principles about developing your potential.
First, you must keep the larger mission in mind. God gives the new humanity in Christ the mission to make the world better and more than it was when he gave it to us, bringing every area of life under the lordship of his Son. The entire mission doesn’t rest on you as an individual. You are part of a “team” in which you play one position; you are part of a body in which you are one member. You must develop yourself to contribute to the grand mission, but the whole mission doesn’t depend solely on you. You are not called to disciple the nations. That’s the responsibility of the entire church. You are called to be a disciple, train your children (should God bless you with them), and bring order to the tiny space where God has placed you. As you do these things, you are helping the mission. But you are doing your part for the larger mission.
Second, you must determine your strengths and weaknesses. If you were a farmer, you would determine from the terrain and the climate what can best be grown where you are. You are a farmer and must examine who you are to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Each of us has different potentials just as soils in different regions have different possibilities. Are you a man or a woman? (That shouldn’t be a difficult question.) If you’re a man, you can’t have babies. If you’re a woman, you can’t be a father or a pastor (the first is biologically impossible, and the second is rebellion against God). Those are fundamental factors, but there are many more. To discover those, you will need to listen to those wise people who are close to you who will be brutally honest with you. You then need to evaluate yourself in light of their counsel. Ultimately, you are responsible for making decisions about what you will do.
Third, consider your desires. Desires aren’t infallible judges, but God gives us desires to drive us to accomplish our mission. We desire the opposite sex, so we want to be married. We desire food, so we work. Though desires can’t be trusted implicitly, they play a part in discovering your place in the mission. What do you desire to do? What do you do well? What do you enjoy? Do others see that you are good at those things?
Fourth, you must take risks, pushing yourself, and be willing to fail. Evaluation continues throughout your life. You should test your limits to see if they are limits or if it is only a fear of discomfort. There is no growth in the comfort zone. If you push yourself, you will fail along the way. That’s okay. Failure is as good a teacher as success.
Fifth, you must set goals. If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. If you don’t know where you’re going, you are flailing. Have benchmarks that let you know if you are making progress. Goals can be small, daily goals, or they can be a goal a year out.
Last, be honest with yourself and accept your limitations. When you find your limits (and we all have limits), be content with those limits. Work as hard as you can within those limits, but be content with God’s limits.
All of this will require diligent work. Sloth is not acceptable. The only way to know the abundance of riches that God has hidden in the fallow ground of your life is to make every effort to plow, plant, and water. God will give the increase, but he expects you to be diligent. Do. The. Work.
