If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me

Hear now, O children of wisdom, the words that speak from the depths of the soul! The great poet and thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in his reflection upon life and divine purpose, uttered these immortal words: “If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” This saying is not a cry of pride, nor an excuse for idleness, but a declaration of divine acceptance, a song of peace between the soul and its Creator. It is a truth both humbling and liberating, for in it we discover the mystery of human design — that every man and woman is shaped by the eternal hand for a unique and sacred purpose.

Goethe was a man who gazed deeply into the heart of life. Living in an age of reason and revolution, he struggled between faith and philosophy, between divine order and human freedom. Yet even as he explored science, art, and love, he perceived an immutable law: God does not err in His creation. Every mind, every temperament, every destiny unfolds according to a higher wisdom. When he spoke these words, Goethe was reminding us that to deny who we are — to reject our nature, our gifts, even our weaknesses — is to question the wisdom of the Creator Himself. To accept oneself is not vanity, but reverence for the hand that made you.

Consider the tale of David, the shepherd boy who became king. When he faced the mighty Goliath, he was offered the armor of a soldier — heavy, splendid, fit for a warrior. But David put it aside, saying, “I cannot go with these, for I am not used to them.” He chose instead the sling and the stones, the tools of his own craft. He accepted who he was, and in doing so, fulfilled the will of God. Had he tried to become another man, he would have fallen in defeat. But by walking in the strength and simplicity that God had given him, he triumphed. Thus, Goethe’s words echo through David’s story — for if God had wanted David to be a giant, He would have made him one; but He wanted a shepherd’s heart to fell the giant instead.

How many souls today live in quiet torment, yearning to be other than they are? The artist who despises his sensitivity, the thinker who curses his doubts, the humble worker who wishes for a louder voice — each one forgets that God’s purpose is not in comparison but in creation. The rose does not envy the oak; the eagle does not covet the song of the nightingale. All fulfill their purpose, each according to its design. So too must man. Goethe’s wisdom calls us to cast off the chains of envy and the heavy cloak of shame. You are not an accident of nature, but a thought of God made flesh. To despise yourself is to insult the Artist who formed you from His imagination.

Yet this is not a call to self-idolatry. No, it is a call to holy alignment — to live in harmony with one’s created essence. It does not mean we are perfect as we are, for even gold must be refined by fire. It means that the raw material of your being — your talents, your emotions, your very soul — was chosen by divine intention. Your weaknesses are not curses, but opportunities for grace to work. The clay cannot demand to be marble, but it can yield to the Potter’s hand and become a vessel of glory.

The lesson, then, is clear: cease your endless striving to become another, and begin instead to become yourself, as God intended. Look not upon your neighbor’s gifts with longing, but upon your own with gratitude. Seek to know the will of God for your life, not by imitation, but by revelation. Ask not, “Why am I not like them?” but “How may I best serve with what I have been given?” In this lies peace, and in peace, strength.

So, dear listener, take these words into your heart as a living fire: “If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” Let them remind you that you are no mistake, no wandering fragment of chance. You were shaped by eternity’s hand for this very hour, in this very form. Therefore, walk boldly in your purpose, love yourself as God has loved you into being, and use every breath not to question His wisdom, but to fulfill His will through the sacred vessel that is your life.