Anything you can do,
I can do better
I can do anything
Better than you.
No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!
Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I’m greater than you.
No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re not. Yes, I am.
No, you’re NOT!. Yes, I am.
Yes, I am!
Anything You Can Do from Annie Get Your Gun by Irving Berlin
I don’t know why these show tunes keep popping into my head. Last week it was George Gershwin and this week it’s Irving Berlin. I prefer something a little hipper or maybe a little more spiritual but it’s where I’m at. So today I want to talk about the song Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better from Annie Get Your Gun and it has everything to do with my prayer life.
Believe it or not, this has often been my attitude toward God. I come to Him with prayer requests for myself and others and say “God, I know you haven’t thought of this yet, so I’ve worked out all the details. I would like you to do x, y, and z. Let me know when you’re done.” I seem to get that He is all-powerful in that moment but forget that He is far more wise, compassionate, and holy than I am. As if He’s not aware of what’s going on and doesn’t have a perfect plan for it.
Once again, I apply my own human failings to God and try to put Him in a box. I ask Him, like He’s a genie, for a list of demands then don’t understand when He doesn’t do them all to my perfect specifications. I beg for Him to move in someone’s life and get frustrated with Him when He doesn’t. I ask again and again and start to assume that I want that person whole and reconciled to God more than He wants that. I think, “Anything You care about, I care about better. I care about everything better than You.”
I ask Him to speak to me the way I want to hear from Him, and when I don’t hear I start thinking, “Anything You can say, I can say better, I can say anything better than You.” Maybe I hear through a friend instead of my Bible study, or through the Bible instead of an audible voice. Maybe I hear something I don’t want to hear.
Maybe I ask for a new car, and He tells me to be grateful for what I have. I ask Him for more finances, and He shows me how to budget better. I ask for the job, and I don’t get it even if I really need it, I ask for that friendship back and they won’t return my calls, I ask for grief to just disappear but it stays settled in my chest, and I think, “Anything You can provide I can provide better, I could so much more generous than You.”
The truth is that no one is more powerful, compassionate, wise, well-timed, or holy. There is no other healer, provider, protector, warrior, commander, friend, father, or giver of good gifts. No one came before Him, and no one will come after Him. He always has a plan, He always works things for our best, and He is always there, arms wide open, ready for us when we turn to Him. We just forget.
It’s good news for us that God does not think this way. His thoughts are higher.
He says, “Anything you can do I can do better, but I still want to spend every minute with you.”
He says, “Anything you can do I can do better, so I’m going to enable you to do better than before.”
He says, “Anything you can do I can do better, so I’m going to help you in everything you do.”
He says, “Anything you can say I can say better, so I’m going to say things I want through you.”
He says, “Any blood that must be shed, my blood is better, so I am going to shed all my blood for you.”
He says, “Any place you can go, I’ve been there first, so I’ll go absolutely anywhere with you.”
The list goes on. He’s better. At everything. Have you ever seen a snowflake under a microscope? It’s insane! He doesn’t even rub it in, He just reminds us of our place, and He uses His position to bless us in ways we can’t even imagine beforehand. He can save better, redeem better, heal better, provide better, plan better, fight better, speak better, and rule better. He makes better jokes, better food, better ministries, and better choices.
The Lord our God is Holy, Holy, Holy. He is Better, Better, Better.
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
Psalm 89:8 NLT
Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
You are entirely faithful.
Join our mailing list to receive new posts every week.