BE WHO YOU ARE

Devon C. LaMaster

Does God favor some of us more than others? It does appear at times that some people get all the breaks. The teachers like them best, they have more money, they get better grades, they're great athletes. Everything comes easily to them and, not surprisingly, they're great-looking! We, on the other hand, are the plodders, unremarkable in every way, with no chance of being noticed.

But whose view is this? Certainly not God's. We don't have to compete for God's love, and He doesn't make some of us better than others. He treasures our individuality, celebrates our perfection. We are His crowning glory, the acme of creation.

Mary Baker Eddy points out that "each individual must fill his own niche in time and eternity" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 70). God wouldn't be fully expressed if He didn't have you to be you and me to be me. Sometimes, though, it may seem hard to tell whether the niche you're in really suits you. That's what I wondered after I'd been in law school for about a year. Classes were tough—more of a challenge than I thought I wanted. Quitting seemed like a very comfortable alternative. The thought even crossed my mind that I was paying a lot of money to be tortured. I wondered, Was this where I belonged? Was this really what God wanted me to be doing?

Then one morning as I wrestled once more with these issues, an answer came. I realized very simply and clearly that I wasn't separated from God. I wasn't an independent mortal, left to struggle on my own. Instead, I saw myself as God-centered and God-supported. As I glimpsed the true, unbroken, and unbreakable relation of God and His loved child—me—I felt very supported and cared for. I also saw that what truly mattered had little to do with the specific activity I was involved in or with how I was doing in comparison with my peers. What mattered was making the most of the opportunity at hand. My purpose in life was to express God. That's actually God's plan for each of us, yet we all do it in an individual way.

With these realizations, my uncertainty vanished. I felt confident that I could go forward in this challenging work with great joy and peace of mind, knowing that as long as I put my hand in God's and kept it there, I could succeed.

Devon C. LaMaster
Town & Country, Missouri

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