...As Unto God

April 3

Do not allow what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do. - John Wooden

Perhaps you know that John Wooden was a godly Christian man who just happened to be the 'winningest' coach in the history of the game of college basketball. He was honored as both a player and as a coach. He was considered a genius regarding the sport he loved.

The words he is noted for are wise in any field of endeavor, for we must never relegate ourselves to the category of failure because of things we cannot accomplish. We cannot relegate ourselves to the category of loser because of our inability to attain recognition in every area of endeavor. NOBODY succeeds at everything! Our role, if we are to be successful, is to discover those things at which we are good—and focus on performing them excellently. We must be ever mindful of the Lord’s admonition that we are to, “do everything our hand finds to do as unto God,” Ecclesiastes 9:10, Colossians 3:23.

Will there be some people who denigrate us because we do not rise to the top in an area they consider to be important? Perhaps so, but our ultimate success or lack there-of is not connected to their perception of who we are or who we should be. Will there be people who will diminish our achievements and focus only upon our failures? Yes, there may be some who will relish our failures because they build themselves up by tearing us down.

But ultimately, we are not who they say we are! We are not the product of the worst of our failures but of the best of our successes! If we will follow John Wooden's counsel, the things we cannot do will not impede our progress toward the things we can achieve with great success. By God's grace, we will be defined by the things we can do well—and the failures of our life will be covered by the blood of Jesus.

The real beauty of the quote is that we can do and be everything the Lord has ordained—and HE has ordained that His people be "more than conquerors through Jesus Christ," Romans 8:37