Be You: It's the Best Way to Be!

timothyjmccollum
Nov 8
3 min read

By: Timothy J. McCollum II

The Difference of Pain

There’s a difference—

A difference from pain

And the leftover promises

From the vanishing rain.

Some feel lost, and some wish not be found.

Don’t let this pain pay the cost

Of letting others decide what happens to your ground.

Be the ground for your plants around.

Choose the cost, and let the sound be renowned.

You know you more than any other could.

Only being can you leave should—

And be free.

I’m okay when they don’t see

That life has laid pain too deep.

I can’t go back and try to be

Someone different, a better “me.”

There’s a difference—

A difference from me

And one who could be.

One is not, and the other is free.

Why Was I Chosen

Every person who has ever lived on this planet is extraordinarily blessed to be alive. The odds that your sperm and egg came together to create you are astronomically small.

Everything—from the season your parents met to the very moment of your conception—had to align perfectly. When you consider that every person in your family line also had to be born at just the right time, the only conclusion that makes sense is this: God wanted you here.

So What?

So what if God wanted you here? Why does that matter?

If you have even a spark of gratitude in your soul, you can find deep joy in knowing this: God knew you would mess up, miss the mark, and sin—and He still chose you to be born. You are here because He wants you here!

You might ask, “Why me? Why not someone else?”

Because God has an ultimate plan to repopulate Heaven after the war that took place there. Scripture tells us that about a third of the angels were cast out. Now, God is filling His Kingdom with new, redeemed followers.

“Better followers?”

Yes—because we know how blessed we are to enter Paradise. We’ve seen what pain and separation look like, which means we’ll treasure Heaven that much more.

It’s extra-biblical, but imagine this: before the war in Heaven, the angels didn’t know what punishment was. They had everything—food, shelter, and the presence of God Himself—but they didn’t understand loss. Because of that, it was easier for them to fall.

We, on the other hand, know exactly what punishment and suffering are. That knowledge makes us cling tighter to God and long more deeply for eternity with Him. God turned a tragedy not of His doing into something that made Heaven even better (Romans 8:28).

Why the Poem Above?

My poem The Difference of Pain is about accepting the real you.

As children, we all had an “ideal self” we wanted to become. Most of us fall short of that image, and the disappointment can make us feel useless or unworthy.

But the truth is—your ideal self is imaginary. It doesn’t exist. You are real. You were the one chosen by God! The ideal self was never meant to exist outside of the Lord.

“There’s a difference,

A difference from me

And one who could be.

One is not, and the other is free.”

Your ideal self was never chosen. The real you—the one reading this—is who God wanted. And that truth should fill you with joy.

The Lesson

If you were perfect, people would judge you.

If you were imperfect, people would judge you.

If you were successful, people would judge you.

If you were unsuccessful, people would judge you.

It doesn’t matter what you look like, how you act, where you’re from, or what you sound like—people will always have opinions.

So just be you, lol. Seriously. You were chosen by the Creator of the universe, the coolest Being ever. You are good enough!