Children's Story: Everything

Everything

What do you want to become? If you could become anything you could possibly imagine, what would it be?

What do you want your life to look like when you're grown up? If you could have anything you could imagine, what would it be?

What if I told you that by focusing what you think about on the things that you want, on how you want life to look like, and then working to bring those things into your life, you could have it all? Would you believe me?

Is that how life works? By imagining how your future could look, do you make it turn out that way?

Did you know that there are quite a few adults that believe this way and teach it to others? As you go through school you might hear teachers say this. Or you might see or hear about classes that teach how you can imagine your way to everything you ever wanted.

There is a part of it that is true. How we think, especially of ourselves, and what we imagine do affect the way we view our own lives, how we view the world, and how others view us. And this can, to a large degree affect how we live our lives. But can we have everything we imagine? And can we become anything we want to be? Can we make our futures into whatever we imagine?

There was once an angel that wanted to be God. He imagined himself to be God. He began to think of himself as God. He began to talk about himself as God. And then many other angels began to believe that this angel could be God. After all, he was talking and acting as if he was God.

After a while, the real God addressed all the angels. The Bible tells us that there was war in heaven. I don't know what kind of war a war in heaven was like. I don't think it was the kind of war that we talk about and know about. It was probably a war of thoughts and ideas. But in the end, the angel who imagined himself to be God and this angel's followers could no longer live together with God and the angels who chose to continue to believe in the real God.

So the angel claiming to be God and his followers were sent out of heaven. This angel came to be known as Satan, and made the Earth his home. Even today, he imagines himself to be the god of this world. But is Satan a god like he thinks he is? He may be in his own mind, but the God of heaven is still God over this Earth.

You see God created the angel, who became Satan, to be the best angel there could possibly be. This angel was never meant to be a god. This angel wasn't designed to be a god. Somehow, we don't know how, this angel began to think that if he could just imagine getting more for himself, by imagining being more than what he was, he could become what he imagined and have all that he imagined. But in the end, he ended up with much less than what he originally had.

God designed each one of us for a special purpose. God gave each one of us a unique set of skills, abilities, and personalities. We can become everything God designed us to be. But when we try to become something we weren't designed to be, we might succeed for a while, but in the end, we will end up with much less than what we could have had if we had followed God's design for us.

How do we find out what God's plan for our lives are? What is the secret to God's way of success? It's putting God first and center. Whenever we are faced with a decision, we need to ask, "What does God want from me?" We will likely find pieces of the answer in different places: the Bible, parents, teachers, pastors, counselors, classes, and books. Oftentimes, not everything you hear or read will be true. If we are tuned into wanting to do the right thing for God, the Holy Spirit will help us know which parts to take as the right answer and which parts to leave behind as stuff that will just confuse us and take us down the wrong path.

The most important thing to keep in mind is to put God first and center. We can test everything by asking and answering a simple question: "Is this what God wants for me?" If the answer this question is, "No," then no matter how much you might want it for yourself, or even if other people might say it's okay, then the wise thing to do is to leave it alone.