No More "I Can't"

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3

Two of the most deadly words in the English language are “I can’t.” We limit our options, we subtract possible joy and, saddest of all, we do not make room for God and His gifts. That is not to say that we can, in some fairy tale way, have three (or more) wishes and obtain anything we want. I cannot, for instance, suddenly be fit and muscular if I have been sedentary and listless until that point. But, what I am able to do is begin a pathway toward that goal.

Music and theater are two of my passions. I am not the best singer, but I love performing, and encouraging others to sing or learn an instrument. The student who encounters a difficult passage or a fingering that is unfamiliar limits herself when she says, “I can’t.” Suddenly all options are off the table. “I can’t” implies there is nowhere to search for that unknown fingering. “I can’t” suggests that further practice is useless and there is no way to improve. Those who continue with “I can’t” are ultimately correct, and they miss out on the fulfillment of accomplishing a difficult piece.

The same thing can happen with drama students. The biggest “I can’t” moments are when the young actor faces a long speech. His character must fill the stage with that moment, but the young actor says, “I can’t.” I grant that memorization is difficult, and some have an easier time than others. But those who say “I can’t” give up before they have started, never experiencing how much they are actually able to accomplish.

“I can’t” forgive. “I can’t” love that person. “I can’t” quit that habit. “I can’t” find the time to serve at the Food Bank. “I can’t” get to meetings on time. “I can’t” find a job. And, following our repeated negative mantra of “I can’t”, we often give up. We have fulfilled our personal prophecy, and proved to ourselves we were right all along. “I can’t” becomes a way of life.

But, what if, with God’s help, we can change our language? What if, knowing that God has given us “everything we need to live a godly life”, we force ourselves to change our speech to match God’s promise? I know, “godly life” doesn’t equal “memorize lines better”. But the promise of God to give us what we need certainly should transform our outlook.

We don’t even have to say, “I can”; but at least we can say, “I’ll try”. I have been teaching myself mandolin for the last six months. My fingers are not nearly as limber as they were 40 years ago, and one finger has some arthritic pain. I have been tempted to say, “I can’t”, when it comes to difficult chord shapes or long stretches between frets on solos. (OK, I’ve actually said “I can’t” a couple of times.)

But, what I’ve refused to do, so far, is give up. A big motivator is that I spent more money on this instrument than on any guitar I’ve ever purchased. I don’t want to squander the investment. But I’ve also learned the value of practice. I didn’t understand it when I was younger. I hated practicing. I hated “etudes”, those silly runs of notes that have no resemblance to popular music at all. Of course, they are intended to teach my fingers and brain how to play so it becomes second nature, making the songs I want to play even easier.

As a believer, we have a greater motivation to never give up. God has called us to Himself by His “marvelous glory and excellence.” I love that word, “excellence”. When it comes to our lives, God spared nothing, not even His own Son, to give us a life of excellence. That motivates me to reach for excellence myself. “I can’t” becomes “I will try”. And, not only will I try, I will continue to try, especially when it come to conforming my life to be like Christ.

It is my personal belief that God is not interested in just what we call “spiritual” things. God created us as we are, and is interested in us as we are. So, the idea of God providing all we need for “godly living” certainly makes our spiritual life the priority, but it does not exclude the rest of our personality from pursuing excellence. We should pursue a life that looks like “God-style-life” (the meaning of the word “godly”), but apply His excellence to all else.

Throw out the “I can’t” from your vocabulary if it is hindering you from moving forward. With God’s help you can accomplish more than you probably have dreamed. God made you and I excellent, let us pursue the same in all our endeavors with both expectation and joy.