While working with students with special needs, I have noticed something beautiful. Regardless of their disabilities, many of them try very hard. Rarely do I hear them say, “I can’t.” As I have said many times, they are my teachers.
I often reflect while they do their work. One day, I found myself thinking about those words and began writing on a scrap of paper. But instead of stopping at “I can,” I wrote, “I can try.”
I can try to stay focused.
I can try to change my way of thinking.
I can try to eat healthier.
I can try to be more patient.
I can try to pray first.
I can try again.
There are many times we say, or think, “I can’t.” And when we do, no effort is made. The door closes before we even reach for the handle. I can try, but it leaves room for movement. It leaves room for grace. It leaves room for growth.
Trying is not a weakness.
Trying is not failure.
Trying is often the beginning of faithfulness.
Maybe this is part of childlike humility too: not pretending we can do everything in our own strength, but being willing to try with God’s help. Sometimes the victory is not in mastering something all at once. Sometimes the victory is simply in refusing to surrender to defeat before the work has even begun.
The students I work with have reminded me of that. They do not always say, “I can.” But they often live as though they can try. And that, too, is a kind of courage.
Sacred Pause
What have you already decided you cannot do? Could the Lord be inviting you to soften that thought and say instead:
I can try.
I can begin.
I can take one step.
I can trust God for help.
A prayer of repentance and renewal
Lord Jesus,
Forgive me for the times I have too quickly agreed to defeat. Forgive me for every place where I have said, “I can’t,” without first bringing the matter before You. Cleanse my mind of hopelessness, discouragement, and fear that stops me before I begin.
Teach me the humility that I can try.
Teach me the courage of small obedience.
Teach me to take one faithful step instead of surrendering to helplessness.
Thank You for the lessons You teach me through the students in my care. Bless them for the ways they have quietly instructed my heart. And where I feel weak, remind me that Your strength is made perfect there.
In Jesus’ Name, amen.
Sometimes faith does not begin with “I can.” Sometimes it begins with the holy courage to say, “I can try.”