As a minister, when asked to write a letter of recommendation for a young person in our church who is seeking a job, I often find myself using the word “potential.” They have it. They are smart, personable people who have grown up in good families and who understand the value of work. They will be a great addition to someone’s work force, and an investment in their future is also an investment in the future of any employer that they serve. I won’t assert that anyone has “great potential” unless I really believe that they do. Still, when I write those words, I’m reminded that I once heard an old man say “Potential is what you say about someone who hasn’t done anything yet.”

God saw potential in a young army commander named Jehu. After the nation of Israel had been badly served by evil King Ahab and his equally bad son, Joram, God sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu to take Joram’s place. The prophet interrupted Jehu in a staff meeting, took him into a private room, and anointed Jehu, giving him these instructions: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel. You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD’s servants shed by Jezebel.”

Jehu’s first reaction was one of humility, almost a “Who, me?” 2 Kings 9:11 (NIV) records that “When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac come to you?” “You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.” When pressed for details, Jehu confessed that the prophet had anointed him as King over Israel. The officers “quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!” (2 Kings 9:13). The army commanders believed that Jehu had the potential to do the job; they quickly got on board. With that encouragement, Jehu stepped into the role of King, and he succeeded.

Never underestimate the value of encouragement. With an IQ of only 81, the young boy growing up in Port Huron, MI, didn’t seem to hold much promise. He was labeled “backward” by school officials, and a hearing loss meant that his speech and grammar were poor. After 3 months of public education, his frustrated mother withdrew him from school and taught him herself. Her tutelage and encouragement allowed Thomas Edison to reach heights no one would ever have predicted.

Of course, to reach your potential, at some point you just have to dig in and get the job done. Jehu did. He hitched up his chariot and prepared to face Joram. A lookout who saw him coming made a telling comment: “The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi–he drives like a madman” (2 Kings 9:20). Jehu’s chariot driving suggests that he was someone who saw where he wanted to be and drove hard to get there.

Former NFL Coach Bill Parcells said, “You lose with potential; you win with performance.”

Jehu’s mistake, too often repeated by many others who hold great potential, was that he quit too soon. 2 Kings 10 tells about how “Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit–the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan…Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.” Jehu “settled” before he reached his potential. Jehu was a decent king, but he could have been a great one.

Ben Franklin quipped that the epitaph of the average man should read: “Here lies the average person. Died, age 25. Buried, age 70.” By the time Franklin died at age 84, he was known as an ambassador, politician, statesman, scientist and inventor. Franklin never quit! David Kearns said, “Quality is a race with no finish line.” So don’t stop reaching for the stars. Work to be the best you can be and keep working. As preacher Craig Groeshel says, “If you’re not dead, you’re not done!”