Unrecognized Potential
Unrecognized Potential
I have always been fascinated by Benjamin Franklin’s remarkable ingenuity and skills in multiple areas. This famous patriot was a very successful writer, publisher, philosopher, and inventor.
One reason Franklin was so successful across multiple fields was his commitment to being practical in everything he did, from establishing one of the country’s first libraries to inventing the highly efficient Franklin Stove.
Arguably, however, his most important scientific contribution came in the field of electricity. Early in 1747, he attended a lecture on electricity in Boston by Dr. Spencer and soon afterward acquired a glass tube that could be used to hold static electricity.
Studying electrical energy fascinated Franklin so much that he recruited friends to help with his experiments and even coined several new words still used to explain electricity: positive, negative, battery, charged, neutral, and conductor.
By the summer of 1749, however, Franklin grew frustrated with electricity. He admitted to friends that he was embarrassed by his inability to find practical ways to harness this newly discovered source of power. He did not live long enough to personally see the impact electricity was to have on the world.
Today, it is hard to believe Franklin was so mistaken about the potential of electric power. What he discovered about electricity helped establish the foundation for what most now take for granted.
Franklin viewed electricity as a novelty and never recognized its true potential. He could not imagine how electricity would provide the foundation for innovations such as air conditioning, radio, television, microwaves, computers, the internet, and automobiles. Each of these relies on the application of what Franklin saw as a mere novelty. Today, almost every product or device contains electrical components.
Though few of us are inventors, each of us touches others in more ways than we imagine. Some share an encouraging word; others work behind the scenes, while others provide inspirational leadership, but every person has the potential to make a significant difference in someone’s life.
The Bible is filled with stories of ordinary people whom God used to accomplish extraordinary things. Joseph’s faithfulness would feed the world, David’s bravery emboldened an army, and Esther, a young woman whose people were refugees, became a queen who rescued her people from genocide. Her uncle challenged her to be bold, telling her, “…perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14, NLT)
No one sees all the long-term results of our present faithfulness. Though no one reading my words today may have the global impact of a Joseph, David, Esther, or Franklin, we can each make a bigger difference than we imagine. When we are faithful, our impact can bless others in ways we dare not dream.