Unused Potential: A Reminder from My Kitchen

Unsplash [Image byVitaly Gariev]

This weekend, my daughter and I were in the kitchen together, baking Nigerian meat pies., I had no idea God was about to use something as simple as an appliance to speak to my heart. We were chatting, laughing, and enjoying the moment when our conversation shifted to the air fryer I was using for the very first time, to bake our pastries.

My daughter looked at me and said, “I’m glad we finally started using the air fryer; it’s just been sitting there all this time.”

And she was right. We bought that air fryer two years ago. Two whole years. It sat on top of the kitchen cabinets, full of potential, full of capability, yet untouched. Not because it was broken. Not because it couldn’t perform. It simply wasn’t being used.

As soon as she said those words, something clicked in my spirit.

I turned to her and said, “This is exactly how the gifts and skills God has placed inside us often lie dormant.”

Just like that air fryer, many of us carry God‑given abilities; talents, insights, creativity, spiritual gifts that were designed to help us fulfill our divine purpose and impact the lives of others. But instead of being activated, many of them sit quietly on the shelf of our lives, waiting for us to recognize them.

We bury dreams under fear.

We hide talents under insecurity.

We postpone callings because of busyness.

We silence gifts because of comparison.

And yet, the gifts remain. They don’t disappear. They don’t lose their value. They don’t expire. They simply wait, patiently for us to plug them in and turn them on.

God never gives a gift without intention.

He never equips us without expecting impact.

He never invests in us without purpose.

But purpose cannot flourish if the gift stays boxed up. Destiny cannot unfold if the talent stays unused. Impact cannot happen if what God placed inside us remains dormant.

The moment we decide to use what God has given us, whether it’s teaching, writing, encouraging, organizing, creating, leading, or serving; something shifts. Purpose awakens. Confidence grows. Lives are touched. And God receives glory through the work of our hands.

That air fryer didn’t fulfill its purpose until we finally put it to use.

And the same is true for us.

Friend, this new year,

Your gifts are still there.

Your calling is still alive.

Your purpose is still waiting.

Nothing God placed in you has been wasted.

Maybe it’s time to take your “air fryer” off the shelf.

Maybe it’s time to dust off that dream, revisit that idea, or step into that assignment you’ve been delaying.

Because the world needs what God has placed inside you.

And heaven is waiting for you to turn it on.

Thank you for reading!

I remain Yours in the Faith,

Margaret (MKO)