The Lie

From the time we are very small, we are told, "You can be anything you want to be - you just have to work hard and pursue your goal."  And, the idea that everything is within our grasp if we'll just stretch ourselves and reach out for it is both inviting and compelling but it simply isn't true.

Millions of young boys and girls dream of playing professional sports but only a few actually have the raw skill, the physical makeup and the opportunity to even be considered.  How many dream of being Olympic Champions but how few have that drive, have the support and have the resources to make that journey.  While we say any boy or girl can grow up to be President of the United States, there are actually very few that are ever in the position to have even the slightest chance.

The truth regarding a position like the presidency is that "there is no authority except that which God has established" (Rom 13:1).  It is God, not man who determines those positions. With man, there are things that are impossible but not with God (cf. Matt 19:26).  And God does not promise us the ability to do anything we want, he promises us the power to do anything within His will for us:

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us---whatever we ask---we know that we have what we asked of him" (1 Jn 5:14-15).

You can have all that God has desired for you if you will seek and embrace His calling.  But what he has in mind for you may look nothing like success as the world counts success.  Did the leather-wearing, locust and honey-eating John the Baptist look like a success in the eyes of the world?  But was he?  Did the apostles, who were virtually all put to death for their preaching, look like typical successes?  But were they?

Does a man or woman have to be well educated and well off to be a success?  Are all those people, many of whom lost their families and their health in the pursuit of wealth and power, really successful?  On this Thanksgiving Day, is it only the rich, the famous, the powerful that have something for which to be thankful?  Are all of them thankful - do all of them even think they have reason for which to give thanks?

In contrast to the person dream-reaching, wealth-making, power-grabbing Western concept of success, are the powerful words of the apostle Paul: "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:12-13).

That same apostle penned, "Rejoice always...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess 5:16, 18).   The truth, this Thanksgiving and always, is that God has gifts for us for which we are to receive and for which we are to be thankful.  Living in this county is one of those gifts.  Knowing Christ is the greatest of all gifts.  If you live in this country and you have a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ - give thanks to God!

Getting what you want in order to be happy is a lie. Many people get what they want and are terribly unhappy - just look at the failed marriages, the sour businessmen, the therapy bills of Hollywood elites.   Happiness is receiving what God has in store for you, being who God called you to be.  Having what God allows is reason for Thanksgiving.  Jus' Say'n.