In one series of my Spanish grammar lessons the characters say they were going to do one thing, but instead they decided to do something else. And I wondered how this resembles our everyday life. I mean, how many choices do we make in a given day? Why certainly, it must be hundreds. I was going to pay a compliment to the stranger, but in place of that I kept quiet. I was going to help hold the door, but instead I stepped back. I was going to visit someone in the hospital but instead I stayed home. I was going to spend time listening to God but instead watched the news. You get the idea. There are lots of choices everyday where we INTEND to do one thing but in the end we choose something else quite entirely.
Face it. We can’t do everything. (That’s not what Philippians 4:13 means.) But we can do some things. The quote to the right, incorrectly attributed here to Helen Keller, was actually first authored by Edward Everett Hale, 19th century clergyman and author:
“I am only one, but I am one.
I can’t do everything, but I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.”
We all have choices, every day, lots of them. Let’s choose to do what we can to let light shine into darkness.
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 4:17
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
Note: To help my recovery along I am, at least temporarily, publishing blog posts Monday-Friday. May your weekends ones of quiet reflection and application of truths confirmed in your heart.
