While going about my daily tasks this past week, I ran into a person who touched my heart. To me, this person was living altogether against their potential in life. Of course, I did not verbalize this thought, but ever since that encounter, my heart has ached for that person, and I have prayed for them to meet the head of all that is possible – Jesus.

I am sure you have met a similar individual in your life, one who is living the life they dreamed of but is absolutely on the wrong path to encounter the joy they are seeking.

This can occur with CEOs just as often as to those who are living on the street. So, how do we miss out on achieving our potential? We are blinded and do not recognize our true value in God – value as seen through our creator God’s eyes.

God has created each of us with a purpose and a goal to achieve. My purpose may not be as star-studded as another’s, but it is still an integral part of God’s bigger plan.

I can make a choice to join in with God’s plan, or I can choose to bow out. Some of us, me included, joined in a bit later than we now wish we had, but God is ever faithful and filled with grace, so when we finally recognized our error, He lovingly fits us back into His plan.

From creation, God had the perfect place already designed for us in time and geography. He imbues in us the skills and talents we need to fulfill our potential and He allows us unbounding joy while we are completing our part of His plan. Our course is set before us if we allow ourselves to be directed by God.

So, what happened to this person I met to throw them off the course of God’s plan? Probably the enticement of the world that we see advertised everywhere we look.

We are told by the world that all that is in the world is here to make us happy, healthy, and beautiful. That, of course, is a lie from Satan himself who wants to direct us away from God. If we believe the lie and follow along with the world’s plan, we will find that we cannot be a part of God’s plan.

God’s vision for our future and our potential is so much bigger than the world promises us – we cannot dream as large as God’s potential for us and our lives.

So that you know I am speaking from experience, I will share a story. When I was working my first job, three of my female co-workers and I decided to take a trip to the shore.

We piled into my car and drove all night. What a time we had together enjoying things we had not experienced before – the ocean waves, boogie boards, and sunburn to the nth degree!

I fell in love with the shore then. Once back home again, working at my job, I dreamed about a way to live full time at the shore. I dreamed and I dreamed but nothing came of it.

As time went by, I joined the Air Force and went to a base in Washington state, closer to the western shore. Little did I know the Washington shore has freezing cold water and down jackets are necessary in June! I assumed that was to be my lot in life, although I was quite miserable, and my poor husband, Neil, had to live with my misery.

But, as I grew in my faith, I started to listen to God and to obey Him. I began to understand He had greater things for me than what I had settled for.

What I never could have imagined is that He would love me enough to move me to the warmer and more delightful shore of Ocean City, New Jersey, where daily I thank Him and delight in His gift to me.

And to make that gift ever more perfect, God enticed Neil to delight in this gift, as well. God put the desire in my heart for the seashore and then He gave me the seashore!

God loves us – each and every one of us. We have great potential if we willingly agree to give ourselves over to God’s plan for us.

God desires much from us, including purity, obedience, and love, but God gives much more than He ever requires. To sit in God’s love and to be able to love Him in return is the greatest gift on earth.

I am praying especially for that soul I met this week that they soon might find the beauty of living to their full potential in God’s plan.

ED. NOTE: Amy Patsch writes from Ocean City. Email her at writerGoodGod@gmail.com.