Do We Want Good or Great?
Have you ever been in one of those situations when you are looking for something to buy a friend of yours for a birthday? or maybe its a christmas gift? you need to get something that is justperfect. Its one of those situations where you just can’t find that one specific thing that will just be outright amazing for the receiver? you swear you have been to every store possible in a 15 mile radius to get the perfect gift, but just can’t find it?
well… for some reason this idea has been resting on my heart lately. Because those situations always have the same ending don’t they? You always end up settling to get something that you doesn’t really satisfy what it is that you were looking for, but it does a pretty good job! I guess i’m getting at this… instead of wasting anymore of my time looking for a specific gift, we’re ok with a pretty good one, in light of the fact that we could have found something that would possibly have been GREAT!
what’s even crazier is this… Life is just the same!
I was in bible study a few weeks ago and we somehow got on this same tangent. One of my friends mentioned to me that he feels like he is settling for the “good” things in life when he could be getting the “GREAT” things in life. He went on so allude that by saying to ourselves that the good things in life are good enough, we miss out on all the best things that we never get to see.
I feel this same way ALLLLLLLLLLL the time!
the paradox in this belief is that the choice we usually end up with isn’t inherently bad… its actually a good thing. it may make us feel good, we may have a great time, we may even grow a bit in the process, but in hindsight we are able to see that we could have had a better opportunity! we could have had a GREAT thing rather than just a good thing.
its the difference of going to a movie or coffee with a friend who’s parents just got in a divorce. It’s the difference between a family member that needs some attention, and a party at your buddies house. It may for some be as drastic as deciding to go to church, or spend some alone time with God. For some of us, it may be the simple difference of pouring into our best friends, or pouring into our roommates.
Whatever it may be for us, its all the same concept. both things are inherently good… but we sometimes don’t look for the great!
What I guess I’m trying to get at isn’t what is going to be good… but what is going to be GREAT!!
imagine how great life could be when we look back and say, wow…. I was incredibly blessed with GREAT things in life. I didn’t settle for the good stuff when I could have had the Great! I continuously and consciously relied on God for my understanding and knowledge about decisions I had presented to me. I always made wise choices and never ceased to pray about the things God put in my path. What would it be like if we were all able to say without a doubt… this is the Great… and i’m going for it!
It all boils down to what our definition of great is. If any of you are like me, I want to know what the genuinely great things are in life… I want to know what the guy who made the word “great” defines as great… I want to know what it is that God thinks is great! Those are the things I want to be associated.
So, this week… take a look at the situations in life that you have the opportunity to get involved in something good or something great.
It may take some sacrifice, but God’s soo much more powerful than all the other things we have going on! HE knows the hindsight that we soo often long for. HE knows what is truly great for our hearts… for our minds… for our growth… for our understanding… God knows what is genuinely great…
because I think that it brings God incredible joy when we choose the GREAT things in life and decide not to settle for just good.