Everyone likes to try and tell others what they can and cannot do. It’s as simple as, “Well, you’re not going to get to go there,” or, “You can’t do this.” It doesn’t matter what you do or say; you can’t always please everyone, and not everyone is going to believe in you.
Now, most of you reading this know my story. I was born three months early, and most everyone told my parents I wouldn’t be able to do much. They walked and held me like I would break, well, except my parents. I don’t remember any of this, but I know what my parents and others have told me.
I’ve had people telling me I can’t or won’t do things my whole life. I was “too small” to make a difference in basketball. Well, I didn’t let being small stop me. I was also told I was too much of a homebody to enjoy college and that I’d be coming home every weekend. Others even thought I’d come out of college a completely different person because of the school I chose to attend. (I guess I surprised a few people when I actually enjoyed college while still holding on to my morals and beliefs!)
My personal favorite was in high school, when everyone told me I’d never meet anyone who fit my standards because they were “too high.” I now date my best friend, who meets all those boxes and then some.
I could go on and on about people who tell me I can’t do something or who try to tell me I’m doing something wrong. There are always going to be people who think they know better when it comes to your own life.
But the older I’ve gotten, the more I realize that I can’t let what other people think of me, or what they tell me, dictate anything about my life. For one, they aren’t living my life; I am. Second, I have a God who takes all their “you can’t” and turns it into “I can.”
It reminds me of the first-year teaching orientation I had to go to over the summer. The main thing they told us was that we were going to have kids who just say, “I can’t do this.” (I’ve had a few of those.) But the word that changes that is the word yet. We were told to tell the kids that while they can’t do it right now, that doesn’t mean they can’t do it at all.
I think that’s what God is doing. He’s a teacher telling us that while everyone else says we can’t do something, if we follow His plans for us and trust Him, He will give us the strength and the opportunity to do those things.
Luke 18:27 says, “And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
So, if you have someone telling you that you can’t do that thing you know God has called you to do, don’t listen to them. God can do anything, and we aren’t dependent on a human to help us. We have a powerful God who is there to lift us up.
He’s done way more for my life than I ever thought possible, and it wasn’t anything I or anyone else did. It was all HIM.
So, the next time someone tells you that you can’t do something, remind yourself of this verse. It isn’t US doing anything; it’s all Him.
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