Can't Always Get What You Want

The Stones sang it and I believe it: you can't always get what you want. I caught myself watching one of those technical school commercials on TV the other day. You know, the ones that are usually broadcast during the middle of the day, designed to reach out to the high school drop-out who learned too late that pumping gas has a limited upward mobility. The graduate being interviewed for the commercial was holding his two little girls in his lap saying they, like he, could accomplish anything they set out to do. When I heard the father say those words, I became frustrated because the statement is not true. Let me explain...

Just because I desire to do something doesn't mean that I can or should do it. There are many factors involved. First, not everyone is created equal in regard to ability or intellectual aptitude. I could never become a physicist, for instance, because I was not born with the intellectual capacity to become one. I know it's not "fair" but life is not fair. Second, there are biological differences as well as physiological differences to consider. I will never become a professional basketball player (really?). There are obvious differences with regard to gender. I am amazed how male and female compliment each other and I celebrate the specialization that each gender brings. But, I will never give birth to a child (whew, I'm glad that news bulletin has been released)! This brings me to the third point: we are not all psychologically and emotionally equal. To accomplish the task of a funeral director there are unique demands. Those of a preacher, a physician, a lawyer, all have unique psycho-emotional parameters that are required to serve adequately in that discipline.

So, when we say that we can do whatever we set out to accomplish, we are fooling ourselves. The best thing we can do is embrace the abilities we have been given. In raising children, one of the greatest gifts we can give them is to nurture the unique gifts and abilities that become apparent as they grow. Many parents try to live vicariously through their children and attempt to coerce them into disciplines or professions with which they themselves wanted to participate but, for some reason, did not. We can help our kids get on the right track by encouraging them to recognize the skills with which they excel. Sometimes their talents are right under their noses--too obvious for them to see-- but we must nurse those talents through reassurance. One way I knew that playing music would become my chosen profession was that I always felt content while I played and sang. People always said I was good at it. I felt God's joy when I played. Opportunities to play and sing came to me increasingly over time. I am still playing and singing professionally today.

God has a plan for each of us. He loves us equally. His love for us is not based on our talents, gender, looks, behavior, status or ethnicity. We can discover the life He has created for us if we allow our unique gifting to flow and, more importantly, we return them back to Him for His glory.