The Terrible Danger of Wasted Potential

I am fully convinced that most days God spends His time shaking His head in disbelief, laughing at our audacity or grieving over our lack of obedience. He must frequently find us a source of comic relief and disappointment.

If anyone were truly born with a silver spoon in their mouth, it would be Solomon. Even in this, there  was not enough. In Solomon's home there were no silver spoons. His family and friends, vast as the number be, dined day in and day out on platters and plates of purest gold.  There was no luxury He did not possess, known to the world at his time. The king would frequently send voyages of explorers out to find the rarest of treasures known to man. Under his ruling, David's fortune was multiplied time and again.

Solomon received not only his father's vast fortune but he was a horse trader. He received the equivalent each year of 1 billion dollars in income. Suffice it to say, the man had it pretty good.

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” (1 Kings 3:9)  

Don't you know it thrilled the Father when Solomon asked this request? Can't you just imagine that the Father said "finally, someone gets it". 

Now, we believe in a sovereign God, One who has seen all there is to see from the beginning of time, but don't you ever wonder, does God look at us and think, "maybe this one will surprise me"? Somehow, I think He holds out hope that just maybe one of we feeble creatures, will exercise our free will and just surprise Him, in a good way. My friend Lee tells me frequently "nothing takes the Lord by surprise". He has a favorite quote, "there is no panic button in Heaven"  He says God, Jesus and Holy Spirit are not up there in Heaven going, "oh no!" "did you see what Shannon did, we have to go fix that!"  

Did you you notice the reason for Solomon's request? So that he might be able to discern between good and evil to govern the people. Thankfully, today, we as believers have that same knowledge available to us on a daily basis. Through scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have the same knowledge of Solomon. 

An individual was privy to a gathering in a church not long ago. The person reported of a leader who portrayed a satirical character. This character was supposed to be a humorous way to get a point across, however what my friend did not know is that I already knew about "the show". The "church leader",  is known for controlling the church members with the fear that they will be the next person characterized in this "show". This same satirical character comes out anytime someone "needs to be taught a lesson". My friend knew something was not right about this, what they did not know was this was evidence of the Jezebel spirit.

Yes, I said it! This is exactly what this is. This is manipulation, plain and simple. A manifestation of a spirit that sadly controls far too many churches these days. 

A couple of days ago a friend and fellow writer published a piece on church hurt. The type of manipulation and lying spirit that is controlling the church I spoke of earlier is in hundreds of thousands of churches large and small across the world. Gifted individuals who may have once had an anointing on them have fallen prey to evil and wicked spirits and now command them to their own agendas. There are people we naturally want to believe, your pastor and staff are some of those. But when a person takes a minute piece of the truth and twists it and turns it until it is unrecognizable, that is witchcraft. 

Galatians 5:19-21  “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."


Do not confuse God's silence with His approval. He will only tolerate such behaviors for so long. I know , He tolerated far less from me for much less time. He will send his children warnings from the Holy Spirit and if we are wise we will heed to that warning. 

There was one problem with Solomon's request, while asking for wisdom to govern the people, he did not ask for wisdom to govern himself. On the day of the consecration of the temple, there was a party to top all parties. The whole of the land was there for the dedication. Solomon was at the top of his game. He was king during the most glorious period of growth and profit for the children of Israel. This day was the pentacle and the pivot for his reign. 

On this day too, God chose to warn Solomon not to get too full of himself or to get careless. You see, part of the problem with a little power is it goes a long way. There was not a greater king than Solomon in all the history of history. His kingdom rivaled that of the pharaohs. He had riches, power, land, and wives and concubines in excess. So what was the problem you may say?

Lust, pride, greed...call it what you will. In asking for all that wisdom, he forgot to ask how to use it. Solomon's lust for extravagance had led him to take wife after wife, even those who practiced idol worship and witchcraft. These pagan gods were still being worshiped and God himself had warned Solomon to be careful of being influenced by this idolatry when Solomon chose to take these extra wives. 

Free will can be both a curse and a blessing. So can the teaching of Grace without repentance. You see many times God will allow us to follow our own course, even when the Holy Spirit urges us to choose the better path. God allows it but that does not mean that He honors it. Why?

Because the better path will ALWAYS lead to Glory for the Lord and not ourselves. The path of righteousness will ALWAYS align with HIS word and will and not our own.  

Solomon had EVERYTHING any human could possibly desire and yet in the end he spoke these words in reflection of all that he had learned after tasting all that his fleshly desires craved.: 

Ecclesiastes 7:25 I tried to understand, examine, and comprehend the role of wisdom in the scheme of things, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the insanity of folly. 7:26 I discovered this: More bitter than death is the kind of woman who is like a hunter’s snare; her heart is like a hunter’s net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is captured by her. 7:27 The Teacher says: I discovered this while trying to discover the scheme of things, item by item. 7:28 What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only one upright man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them. 7:29 This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

One, at this point, would wish to ask Solomon "WAS it really worth it?" You see, Solomon had found favor in God's eyes as a young man. Because of David's murderous actions, David could not build the temple of God and the chore was given to his son Solomon. The prince with the most potential. The child hoped to be the one to finally usher the children of Israel into full reconciliation with Yahweh and yet he could not even heed his own words.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart, Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.26For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, And an adulteress hunts for the precious life. 27Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned? Proverbs 6:25-27

Solomon sold his kingdom for a piece of bread...He turned his heart from Yahweh. He erected temples to worship the gods of his Moabite and Eddomite wives. His kingdom torn from his hands and only a fraction given to his son to ensure the line of David would continue. Wasted potential. 

Solomon was not alone either, many more...Sampson, the rich young ruler, the prodigal's brother, Judas...the Pharisees; each examples of lives anointed for an intended purpose, yet each allowed themselves to succumb to temptation though each knew where their true source of strength lay.

There are many leaders today, like Solomon, who once had the anointing of God. They once had the potential to be mighty warriors for the kingdom of Christ, yet they have chosen to worship at the alter of the gods of pride, lust, manipulation, self-seeking and deceit. 

As Christians, it is our responsibility to empower ourselves with the Holy Spirit and grasp the discernment to protect ourselves from falling under the influence of these (who while only God can judge their souls), the outwardly manifestations do not align with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If something does not seem right, check it against the word of God. God will NEVER instruct someone to do something, nor will he ever honor something that does not align with His word.

 It is also the responsibility of those of us claiming to be anointed into positions of leadership to seek the face of God daily; to not only seek wisdom but to apply wisdom. It is our responsibility to guard our hearts, to die to self daily and to follow the voice of the Holy Spirit when it nudges our souls to avoid the idols of this world. 

Just as surely as I believe that there will be consequences eventually for our sins here on this Earth, I believe that on the day of judgement there will be answer made for not living to our fullest potential in Christ. God can't minister to or through our masks, He can not bless who we pretend to be. 

The good news, there is nothing God can't redeem, if surrendered by a repentant heart. Its not too late to reach your potential.