Be who God uniquely gifted you to be.
If you are fretting, it is always an indication that somewhere you are not trusting God. One of the greatest areas of distrust we exhibit, is in the area of our very being … who we are … and what we were created by God to be.
How many of you can actually look yourself in the mirror each day and be completely satisfied with the person staring back at you? Face it, we all desire and strive to be things that we are not. For example, I was always terrible at math. No, I flat out stunk at math. It’s a wonder I even passed some of my math classes. You would think that would be all the indication I would need to flee from math forever, but of course I didn’t. When it came time to choose an elective for my senior year of high school, I had to do the unthinkable. I signed up for advanced algebra. I did it because I was determined to become excellent at it. It never happened.
While this may sound noble, it was actually one of the worst ideas in the universe – EVER! I don’t think anyone ever sat me down and said, “Phil … math is not your strength.” I had other classes I did wonderfully in. I aced creative writing and excelled in all related subjects. But noooooooo … I was determined to be a modern day Einstein! I had bought into the fallacy that you can do anything you put your mind to. I’m here today to tell anyone else who believes that … BOLOGNA!!! You were created by God with certain gifts and that’s what you should pursue. Sure, you can make up your mind to be a famous singer, but if you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, you’re going to face some unconquerable challenges.
All of us have done this in some form or fashion. We see what we admire in others and envision ourselves doing exactly the same thing. We often feel pressure to excel in areas God never designed us to excel in. This is one of the best ways to waste your life and talents. Frankly, the world doesn’t need four trillion lead singers. We need some auto mechanics, seamstresses, airplane pilots, farmers, and unfortunately some lawyers and doctors. We are never happier than when we discover who we are, what we are gifted to do, and devote all of our efforts to pursuing that.
So stop fretting about what you can’t do – that’s the lowest level of living. You are uniquely you. Be the best you that you can be! Don’t worry about what you don’t have and can’t do and start being happy about who and what God made you. There is nothing more liberating. Jesus broke the mould as he walked the earth. Let’s follow in His footsteps!
By Pastor Phil Lemke
