“Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?”
Malachi 2:10a
I want to give you six basic principles that are fundamental to all
potential. Here are the last two principles.
Principle #5—Everything in life has the potential to fulfill its
purpose.
The purpose of a thing is the original intent or desire of the one
who created it. Thus, the purpose of a thing cannot be known by asking
anyone other than the designer or the manufacturer. If we entered
the laboratory of an inventor and you asked me what a certain contraption
was supposed to do, I might guess at what service or function
it could perform, but only the inventor would be able to confirm
or reject my suggestion.
Likewise, the ability of that product to fulfill its purpose is
designed into the product. No manufacturer would suggest that you
use his appliance to wash clothes unless he intended for it to wash
clothes. If I assume that the machine is a clothes dryer and complain
to the dealer that the machine won’t dry my clothes, the manufacturer
will most certainly respond, “But that machine isn’t supposed
to dry clothes. Use it to wash clothes and it’ll work fine. But don’t
ask it to dry clothes, because it can’t. I didn’t build it to dry clothes.”
The manufacturer determines both the product’s purpose and how it
will function to fulfill that purpose.
Principle #6—Potential is determined and revealed by the
demands placed on it by its creator.
What a product can potentially do is determined by what the
manufacturer of the product asks it to do. Potential is revealed by the
faith of the manufacturer in his product and the expectations he
places upon it. If a manufacturer of small trucks designs them to
carry one-half ton, the company will not advertise their product as
having the ability to carry one ton. Why? Because the manufacturer
knows that he cannot require the truck to carry a full ton when the
specifications under which it was
built designate that the maximum
capacity is one-half ton.
The manufacturer will not
ask the product to perform more
or less than he designed it to do.
If a manufacturer requires a
product to do something, you can
be sure that he believes the ability
to perform the task was built
into the product.
Potential is
revealed by
the faith of the
manufacturer in
his product and the
expectations he
places upon it.
