To one degree or another, just about all of us are unsatisfied with ourselves and our circumstances—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. A certain amount of dissatisfaction is necessary if we’re ever going to make progress. To become all that we can be, we must dream of being more than we are. The problem is, too many of us stop there, in the dream stage. Why do you suppose that is?

More often than not, it’s because we don’t think we have what it takes to turn our dreams into reality. And we’re usually right about that. We can make some changes by sheer willpower or working harder, like reaching a new sales quota or dropping a dress or pants size. But what about the bigger changes, the changes inside that we know would make us so much happier and enable us to truly make a difference in our corner of the world? It’s that kind of change that is usually most elusive.

We’re not good enough, we tell ourselves. We have too many flaws and make too many mistakes. It’s just not in us!

Jesus summed it up so simply when He said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” 1 The secret lies in putting ourselves in God’s hands and letting Him do the impossible for us and through us and sometimes in spite of us. We’re small, weak, and incapable, but there is a very big and strong and capable God just waiting to help us.

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Be like him

Christ in you, the hope of glory.—Colossians 1:27

The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God, and the experience of this works out in the practical details of life.—Oswald Chambers (1874–1917)

To be like Christ. That is our goal, plain and simple. It sounds like a peaceful, relaxing, easy objective. But stop and think. He learned obedience by the things he suffered. So must we. It is neither easy nor quick nor natural. It is impossible in the flesh, slow in coming, and supernatural in scope. Only Christ can accomplish it within us.—Chuck Swindoll (b. 1934)

That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working.—Philippians 2:13 MSG

  1. Mark 10:27↑