Learning What to Wish For

"Do not wish to be anything except what you are."

~St. Francis De Sales

If I could, I would like to ask St. Francis what prompted him to say, "Do not wish to be anything except what you are."

Oh, really? And why not?

There's a part of me that wants to argue with that statement. I want to insist that surely I can come up with a new-and-improved version of me.

Sound like a Pharisee, don't I?

There's part of me that has to confess that "me" has been distorted--by the actions of others and by my own actions.

There are days I am not even sure who or what I am, it's all gotten so horribly mixed up in my circumstances and my own efforts to fix things.

And then I remind myself that it's not all up to me to figure out who or what I am.

I have a Creator-God who made me in His image. Who made me with a purpose in mind. Who knew exactly what He was about when he formed me in my mother's womb (Psalm 139).

And those truths give me hope.

Just Thinking Out Loud: So maybe this Accidental Pharisee got lost along the way. Maybe when I look in the mirror I'm not too certain who is looking back at me. Is that the woman God intended me to be or is it the woman I thought I was supposed to be?

It's not irrepairable. God is a God of miracles--and he can help me see myself more clearly. He can teach me who he made me to be. He can show me what his purpose is for my life.