“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
BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES
As we look at history, as far back as the 1600’s, there has been some organized attempt to show respect and honor to mothers on some particular day. In the United States it was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872 to have special Mother’s Day.
As my youngest daughter (who is 4 years old) prays, she inevitably expresses thanks to God for the blessings that He provides. However, when she states it, there is a truth that she adds which many of us adults forget. She prays, “Thank you for the blessings that we always have.” It is true isn’t it? God “daily bears our burdens” (Psa. 68:19), and “A faithful man will be richly blessed” (Pro. 28:20). Even the unrighteous are blessed through God’s faithfulness in creation (Mat. 5:45; Acts 14:17). The physical blessings that every man enjoys come from God: “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). God wants us to be happy and satisfied so that we can see and access the greater blessings (that have always been in His mind) in the spiritual realm. To “always have” those blessings we must choose to be in Christ’s church and keep ourselves in the love of God (Mat. 16:18; Jude 21). To be “in Christ” one must have the faith that leads them to repent and confess Christ and be baptized “into” Him (John 3:36; Luke 13:3; Acts 8:37; Gal. 3:27). God had a plan before the world began for mankind to receive the ultimate blessings of mercy, grace, redemption, and eternal life in His Kingdom through obedience to His only begotten Son (2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2). Think about it: Christ was “slain from the creation of the world” so we could always have blessings (Rev. 13:8). God chose that the faithful in Christ would always have blessings “before the creation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). At the end of time, the Lord and King will allow the righteous to always have blessings in the “kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Mat. 25:34). Let us be thankful for the “blessings we always have!” Derrick Coble, Nesbit church of Christ, Nesbit, MS
How do nations die and why? “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9; 3:15). Solomon’s wisdom from God, declares this truth: occurrences and actions repeat themselves, over years and centuries, albeit in a “new dress”.
There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends His blessings to lure us. But then there are times when God sends nothing but silence as He honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity. And what an honor it is! In so many areas of life we have no choice. Think about it. You didn’t choose your gender. You didn’t choose your siblings. You didn’t choose your race or the place of your birth. Sometimes our lack of choices angers us. “It’s not fair,” we say. It’s not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly. But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. All complaints were silenced when Adam and his decedents were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire. Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next. Wouldn’t you agree? Would you have it otherwise? Would you have preferred the opposite? You chose everything in this life, and He chooses where you spend the next? You choose the size of your nose, the color of your hair, and your DNA structure, and He chooses where you spend eternity? Is that what you would prefer? It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal: I’ll take good health and a high IQ. I’ll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism …. Would’ve been nice. But it didn’t happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren’t given a voice or a vote. But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal. Wouldn’t you agree? Have we been given any greater privilege than that of choice? Not only does this privilege offset any injustice, the gift of free will can offset any mistakes. You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You’ve chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong actions and relationships. You look back over your life and say, “If only …. if only I could make up those bad choices.” You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. God allows you the choice. The choice is yours. He Will Let You Choose. 
Highland Lakes church of Christ 