I have good news and bad news.
The good news is you are loaded with potential. God created you that way. You are truly a marvel, you know that? Every day, you process ideas, engage in relationships, perform tasks, and create new realities. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
The bad news is you are limited. You are like God but not God. He is all knowing, everywhere present, and entirely powerful. You are some knowing, one place present, and partially powerful. You are finite.
This means you cannot be everything, do everything and complete everything you want to be, do and complete. It means that to be really great at any one thing, you’re going to have to choose to be mediocre (if not downright awful) at some other thing. There’s no way around this.
The apostle Paul recognized it. That’s why he could say, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength,” and, “I am glad to boast about my weaknesses.” “Weaknesses?” How could someone who could do all things through Christ have “weaknesses”? Because that someone was finite. And so are you.
A successful life lies at the junction of the good news and the bad news. It lies at the point of realizing how powerful you are… and how impotent. At the place you become aware that you are at once unparalleled in your potential… and extremely limited in your ability. At the second you accept that you can do amazing things but you cannot do everything.
That’s the new news. The new news is that the bad news is actually good news as well. Because the moment you realize how powerful and limited you simultaneously are, you can do something remarkable.
You can focus.
That’s the beauty of being finite. It forces you to focus. To choose a very few things that you will do extremely well. People who embrace the good news, accept the bad news, and focus on the new news change the world. They don’t change everything about the world, and they don’t change the entire world, but their singular, focused contribution combines with all kinds of others to transform the world around them.
What are you supposed to be focused on? And what are you doing with your time and energy and resources that’s draining away the limited potential you have to make a difference?
What are you trying to be good at that you should actually be awful at so you can focus on what you can be great at?
Find out where the good news meets the bad news and embrace the new news: that God made you finite so you could be focused.
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