Purpose over Potential.
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Jesus’ brothers said to Him ... “You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
John 7:2-5
There is a very interesting story hidden away in the 7th chapter of John. Jesus just finished feeding the 5,000, He just walked on water. He just talked about being the Bread of Life and caused more controversy. Now, it’s time for the Festival of Shelters, a huge event in Jewish culture. This is one of the three times where the entire Israelite diaspora are required to take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. People come from all over. Millions take their trip to Jerusalem to engage in the festivities. It is a great platform for Jesus to do another huge miracle and to stir up His fan base. His target demographic are in the same area and ready to be marketed to. His brothers put it like this: they want Jesus to leave Galilee and go to the huge festival and show off some miracles. “You can’t be famous if You hide like this! If You can do such great things, show Yourself to the world!” they exclaim.
And I kinda get where they’re coming from! Jesus has a mission, right? This is an amazing opportunity! I would be His stage manager and make sure He has everything in order. I would make sure Jesus has the right fit on and the best opening acts. I would make sure Jesus posts strategic advertisements to make sure people were primed for this surprise release. I would hold teaser interviews, maybe get a Tiny Desk spot, maybe get on the Terrell Show, maybe even try to link with Oprah for an interview. I would make sure Jesus not only gets this platform but that He makes the most of His new-coming fame!
Already, the flyers are printed and the t-shirts are shipped, but Jesus isn’t on board with this pre-production marketing plan. He says, “Now is not the right time for me to go… My time has not come yet.”
I would be so confused. Like Jesus, I thought we had a plan? I thought You would free us from Roman oppression! We are under tyranny and you came to save us right? I’m tryna set up Your fan base to make sure it all works, what do You mean You aren't going?
But Jesus understood something His family didn’t. This platform would be cool, but a blessing out of season is a curse.
The people closest to Jesus stay in His ear trying to get Him to chase His immense potential. They see what He could do and want to maximize it. But Jesus is on a different wave. The brothers see Jesus’ abilities and still don’t believe His true purpose: to be the atonement of our sins and die on the cross. Jesus is on a predestined plan. Yet, they don’t know the purpose so they can only chase potential.
Potential is related to future possibilities but purpose is related to a predestined plan. Potential is based on what you can do but purpose is based on what you’re called to do. Jesus had a purposed plan over His life and going ahead of the plan could taint the promise.
Jesus knew the Jewish leaders were in Judea plotting His death, and a premature death would mess up the plan His father had set before Him. His time hadn’t come yet. Jesus had more to accomplish. Forcing this and rushing the plan would have held off some of the things God was trying to do in Jesus’ life. Jesus followed the pace His Father had set for His life.
So often, in the moment, we chase the things we can do and not the things we’re called to do. We end up in things we aren’t graced to handle. These things tend to lead to a premature death of the plan.
So often we strive when we are called to stride. We push and overexert ourselves to rush to the positions we believe we need to be in, instead of trusting God’s timing and letting Him lead. So often, we push instead of getting in God’s pace: the “Pace of Grace”.
What is the “Pace of Grace” and how do you follow it?
Pace is the speed at which something is moving while grace is divine favor or provision for something or someone. The Pace of Grace is the pace at which God has ordained to provide for you in this season. The Pace of Grace is the speed at which God is leading you to go and achieve the plans He has for you. God has a plan for you, but it can’t be forced or rushed. God’s plans for you are bigger and better than anything you can imagine and He knows that He is the only one strong enough to power it. If you try to run out of the pace God has set for you, you will have to sustain something that you can’t handle long term. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Let Him power the journey and sustain the pace to make sure you don’t burn out!
Let’s take this principle from Jesus and agree to stop trying to rush the development of God’s plan in our lives. We need to realize that anything rushed and forced isn’t in the will of God. Forcing and rushing means we are doing it in our power, but following God’s pace means we are relying on His power. Jesus fulfilled every messianic prophecy in three years by walking. Sometimes the pace God sets you at may seem slow, but God will accomplish everything He has planned for you in due time. Don’t force it. Don’t let the people who don’t understand your purpose push you to break your stride. God has a plan for you that may seem slow but he is pacing you out for the long run.
Don’t rush to the platform. God may still be doing a work in you that needs to be done in the darkroom. Sometimes, we may seem to be moving slower than the people around us or slower than what we know we can accomplish. It may be that God is keeping you at a pace you can handle at the moment so He can grow you. God knows what you can handle at this moment and knows that rushing the process would lead to a premature death of His plan. Trust the “Pace of Grace” God has set for your life.
I used to run track and cross country. Track is dominated by short distances, that’s what we think of when we think of track. We think of short sprints and people like Usain Bolt training years to exert himself for 100 meters for less than 10 seconds. But my distances were long distances. And in long distances, it’s all about pace. I had to run the half-mile, 1 mile, 2 mile, and 3 mile races, and if I tried to run it like a sprint, I would burn out and ruin my chances of accomplishing the goal of my race before I even really got started.
Hebrews 12:1b says, “let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
God has set a race before us. He set out a plan of blessings for our lives. He knows where we need to be at specific moments to be on pace for His goals for us, and He reminds us to pay attention to our endurance. He wants to make sure we don’t burn out. He wants to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves because He knows how much we can handle. It is so easy while running long distances to overestimate what you can do and underestimate the weight of the race. But good pacemakers will do the calculations, and run the race ahead of time to make sure they know just how hard the runner needs to exert themself to not burn out and run a good time.
Professional long-distance runners actually hire pacemakers, or “rabbits”, to set a good pace for their runs. The Pacemaker runs ahead and offers themself as someone for the runner to keep up with. They make sure they don’t run too fast or too slow for the runner’s desired pace for that race.
Let God be your Pacemaker and trust that the One who designed both you and the race knows exactly what is good for you at this moment. God may tell you to slow down. He may tell you to speed up. But we need to trust that He knows what is best. It may not be time for a platform. It may not be time for a relationship. It may not be time for that 6 figure position. God may be taking the time to cook you a little slower than others and we all know oven food is better than microwave food. Let Him take His time on You. Trust His pace.
Psalm 37:23-24 NLT
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.
Psalm 37:23-24 (Pace version)
The Lord sets the pace and lays out the path of those who allow Him to be Lord in their lives.
He is more than happy to pay attention to every detail of their life and story.
They may stumble, but they never fall, because the God of angel armies is holding their hand.
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Thanks so much for reading! I pray you were blessed. If you would like a sermon about this topic, here’s a link to one I preached at Redemption:
