22nd place ribbon for a race

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There’s a flip side to when we don’t settle.  We get the very best.

Think about it for a moment.  If we don’t take “second best” or maybe even “fifth best,” we get the very best.  Every time.  It’s like math – it just works out that way.

We fill our lives with “second best”

Any time we start trying to fill our lives, we end up getting short-changed.  Any time we grasp or pursue or try to take for ourselves, we lose out.  It’s just how it is because only God has the very best for us.

If we want God’s best, we need to take a look at our lives and see if we’re filling them with things other than God.  Other than his plans.  Ask ourselves, “Are we leaving space for God to move.”

Because if we’re not, we can’t have the very best.  We’re full of all the other stuff.

God has the very best for you.

There are millions of things we can fill our lives with.  There are so many things we can pursue and serve.  But none of these compare with what God has for us.  None of them even begin to compare.

Think about it for a second – if the all-knowing, all-mighty creator of all that is seen and unseen has a plan for you or has “stuff” in mind for you, what makes you (or me) think you (or I) can do better?!

REALLY!

We can’t possibly do better.  We don’t know enough.  We don’t have enough power.  And we just don’t understand.

  • We will never be more effective than when God makes us effective.
  • We will never be more satisfied than when God satisfies us.
  • We will never be more joyful than when God is our joy.

God is the very best for you.

We can see in the Bible that God enjoys giving good gifts to us (Matthew 7:11, Luke 11:13).  But there’s more than just that.  More than any “stuff” that God could give us, he alone is the prize.

He’s the very definition of all that is good and beautiful and desirable.  He’s the source and foundation and sustainer of all that has been created.  He’s the lover and redeemer of our souls.  He’s the giver of life.  He’s the rock of ages.  He’s the source of all power and all life and all wisdom and all creativity.  He’s the fullness of all that could ever be.

And sometimes he creates space in our lives by taking “stuff” away – even stuff that he gave us – so that we can have the real prize.  The prize of eternal life, of God alone.

Let’s hold out for God’s very best.

Let’s refuse to settle.
Let’s keep our eyes out for what God has for us.

Let’s keep our focus – our attention – on God alone.
Let’s do the things that improve our relationship with God.
Let’s keep our expectations high.

Let’s see what God can do!

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