“Be all that you can be!” “Aim high!” “You can be anything you set your mind to be! These are but a few examples of nice-sounding slogans intended to build up our self-esteem, or self-concept. While it is true that we live in a nation of vast opportunities, it is not factual to say we can always be anything we want to be.
We all have limitations with which we must learn to deal. These limitations can be physical and/or mental. What each of us needs to do is come to grips with our own personal situation. This does not, in any way, mean that we cannot overcome obstacles by striving to improve our life, but in all our efforts we must remember who is providing our abilities, and watching over our lives.
We do not have to ride the wave to the top in order to find happiness. Very often happiness is right under our noses, yet we fail to smell the roses. We may have the highest of ambitions, but if God has other plans (see Proverbs 16:9) we must find happiness where we are, and give it our all, and our all to the Lord.
If we place our trust in God, nothing else is of much consequence. We can make the most of what we have been given. In this way, we will learn many valuable lessons, including patience. So frequently, we look around and see what others have acquired or accomplished, and wonder why the same has not fallen into our lives. We must be willing to grow at our own pace, the pace God has set for us. At the same time, we must not fail to do our part. We are in this race together with God, and He will be there for us, if we are there for Him. Be all you can be for Him!
Terry Smalling
via Burns Flat Church of Christ
Burns Flat, OK
Bulletin Digest (April 2003)
This is just a sample of what you get every month in your mailbox
or electronically with a subscription to Bulletin Digest!
FRESH articles, useful for devotional reading, church bulletin fillers and articles,
and as sermon material and illustrations!