Be All You Want To Be—NOT!

Picture the scene: A slick speaker on a well-lit stage with a captivated audience hanging on every word. He gracefully paces across the stage, looking over the group when he emphatically declares, “Everyone of you can be all you want to be!”

So, anyone in the audience can be an NFL quarterback or maybe an author with a book on the New York Times bestseller list? Okay, what about a rock climber, rodeo bull rider, or maybe an astronaut?

I know, I am being a bit facetious, but you get my point.

The Bible says we need to think soberly about ourselves. Soberly means, being of a sound mind or right thinking. Romans 12:3 (NKJV) says, “Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

In other words, be realistic about yourself. When I was in high school, I had the intentions of going into some field of agriculture and I was fairly good with things mechanical. I really wanted to major in agricultural engineering, but I knew my aptitude for math was a real weakness, so I majored in agricultural education. My ministry calling was not until my late 20s.

Thinking soberly is knowing your strengths, knowing your weaknesses, and weighing it all on a scale of realism.

When I first started doing mission work, most of the foreign pastors wanted the American preachers to do crusades. It was not my strength. My giftings are more about encouragement, discipleship, mentoring, teaching, pastoring, and administration. Yes, I preach evangelistic messages also, but let’s be real, I will never be a junior Billy Graham.

I would like to take it a step further. Yesterday, in our church service, I felt led to pray at the altar. Without much thought, my prayer began with, “Lord, I do not want to be all I can be, I want You to be all You can be through me!”

Let that sink in, “LORD, I DO NO WANT TO BE ALL I CAN BE, I WANT YOU TO BE ALL YOU CAN BE THROUGH ME!”

That statement may sound strange, but it forces the emphasis to change from me to God. We can limit God by our selfish desires and by egotistical ambition masquerading as spiritual aspiration. God elevates some folks to big ministry endeavors, others not so much. We need to find our lane and run in it.

We do not need to limit God by a lack of faith, fear, low self-esteem, spiritual bondages, or worldly priorities. At the same time, we need to think soberly about our callings, giftings, being content with the sphere God has purposed for us.

If God gives me a five-gallon bucket instead of a fifty-five-gallon drum, then I will have to make eleven trips to supply the same amount of water than the guy with a water drum. [See, I can do math!] I don’t need to whine about my bucket and covet my brother’s water drum. I only need to allow God to put all the water He wants in my bucket, and refill it as frequently as He wants. If He purposes to give me a bigger bucket, that’s His decision not mine.

Be content with who God made you to be, but never be satisfied with all God can do through you! Little is much when God is in it. Don’t turn down the spigot of God’s inflow.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV).

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt