CAN vs. SHOULD

I can take my pants off in public. I can jump off a tall building. I can eat an entire cake in one sitting. Will I do any of these things? Of course not, for various and sundry excellent reasons! Each of these activities is widely agreed upon as being unwise. Most people agree that just because one has the ability to do something does NOT mean one should do it... so why don't we take this into account when we are deciding upon the positive things in life instead of merely the things that can get us jail time, illness, or worse? Why does this principle only give us pause when the consequences are negative? For example, I can learn to speak Farsi. I can tell everyone I meet that I love them. I can get a job offer for the most amazing, best paying job ever, and I can take that job. But should I? My point is this- it isn't safe to assume that even a present opportunity that seems like a dream come true is the RIGHT opportunity. Sometimes God gives us the chance to choose between His plan and ours... and sometimes our plan looks much, much better on the surface. God tells us that "... every good and perfect gift is from above," but our definition of "good and perfect" often strays from His. Please don't misunderstand- I'm not suggesting we should be constantly situationally paralyzed in life, passing on what God puts in front of us so we won't miss the real gravy train. However, I am certainly suggesting that GOOD can crowd out GREAT, sometimes. For myself, I've spent some time leaning on my own understanding recently, and take it from me- it's a very shaky prop.