The Little Engine That Could

For some reason I got to thinking about; can I or may I.  I remember my oldest sister telling me, “It’s not, can I, but should be, may I.”  When you are a kid, you really don’t care which way it is said, just as long as you get the answer you are looking for.  She was only trying to help and I guess she did because fifteen years later I was saying much the same things to a new generation.

It was something I was thinking about this week when things were not going the way I would have liked. For a while I didn’t know the answer until I remember the words of my sister and it all came together. The light came on when I realized that I really can do some things because it’s all about our God given talents. And I may do things because He gives us permission. So I opened my bible and look up the word ‘can’.  Out of the one thousand sixty four times it appears, this one stood out for me.  Psalm 56:11 ‘In God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?’ Of course this verse is situation specific.

Let me tell you, people can do a lot to us.  I remember walking home from grade six and getting hit by another kid. Lost a tooth over that one. So much for this wonderful verse. Let me say to you, the verse is true, I was just messing with your head. You see, David was not talking about physical injury; he was talking about our hearts. Remember the verse, “If God is for us, who can be against us”? These verses are so intertwined.

Over the years I have learned what my sister was saying. She wanted us to discover the difference between, ‘may I’, which refers to asking permission, and ‘can I’ which revolves around things we can seek to do. Job, Solomon, even David stood silently before God and asked for the strength and courage to do something if God would let them. God gave them all they needed. He gave them capacities and He gave them permission.  Can you see Samson, blind, weak and beaten asking God for permission to once more, and only once more glorify Him with the destruction that came in that palace. He asked, ‘may I?’. 

The next time you want or need to do something for God, try to remember, He has given you both. He had given you abilities to accomplish amazing things for Him, and when He gives you the capabilities, He also gives you permission to complete your task for His Glory. And then think of your childhood book, The Little Engine That Could.

Something to think about.

Rob