How vast is your potential for good?

Faith & Inspiration

By Charles Towne

Wow! That is a question that deserves an answer!

I am not accustomed to hearing voices, and if I was I probably wouldn’t admit it for fear of being thought somewhat strange. (Yes, I know, I am a tad strange - but just a tad mind you! But there was a time when…)

Well, it has been thirty or more years, and I was in a desperate place in my life.

One night I had gone to bed, and as I laid there, I called out to God, “Dear Papa God, I need your help. I have messed up real bad again, and I need for you to tell me what to do. Please help me!” And with that, I fell asleep, and I heard a message. (Now, while I am not the dumbest worm in the can, I can’t come up with stuff like this; but I will let you be the judge. Either way - these words changed my life.)

What was the message that was so revelatory? What words could He possibly say that would change my life? Just this… and I quote:

“YOU DO NOT INHERIT THE WEAKNESSES OF YOUR EARTHLY PARENTS, BUT THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER.”

Simple words, but a profound message. And I believe His intent, His words, were not for me alone, but for anyone who struggles like I did.

As a child, I had a terrible inferiority complex.

Everybody that thought they knew me - everybody except my mama - was quick to tell me that I was no good. I was told that I was stupid, retarded, worthless. And hearing those words of condemnation, I set out to prove them right.

I might as well have had a large sign on my back that declared, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!"

We are the sum and total of our self-talk, and our self-talk is the sum and total of what we have been told.

Think of it: When I touch someone else, or hurt another person, do I feel what they feel? No, I only feel what I feel, no more and no less. But that touch - when we think of it - is so profoundly intimate, and the other receiving it is impacted so keenly!

Who knows, yes, who knows the power of the spoken word, the power of the human voice. Only God knows the words that are spoken, and He is pleased, or dismayed.

O Holy God, O divine friend, let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my mind, my very thoughts, be pleasing to you, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen

Those blessed, and life-changing words that were spoken to me as I slept that night, I now pass on to you, because anything that beautiful and meaningful could never be intended for just one person. I hope you will be blessed as I have been.

Charles Towne is first and foremost a Christian. An octogenarian, author, journalist, wildlife photographer, naturalist, caregiver, and survivor, his life has been and continues to be, a never-ending adventure filled with possibilities never imagined. He has adopted the philosophy that to Live fully, laugh uproariously, love passionately, and learn like there is no tomorrow, is a formula for a long and joy-filled life.