Have you ever noticed that if you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer?
Your friend asks you to stop by and pick up some frozen strawberries. You stop by a clerk on your way into the grocery store and ask, “Pardon me. Do you know where the strawberries are?” The clerk points you to produce where you find the boxes of strawberries. You buy them and head on your way. When you finally arrive at your friend’s home, you find out that you have the wrong item. You have fresh strawberries, not frozen ones! What seems like a slight difference can have a huge impact.
Think about the questions you’re asking in life.
Could it be that you’re asking the wrong questions, and that’s why you’re getting the wrong answers?
One of the questions we are commonly asking is: What is good?
Good is a good question, but it’s often the wrong question.
Let’s put this in context.
Think about your kids. How many times have you caught yourself asking, “Will this be good for them?” Or “Is this good for their future?” Or maybe, “Is this food good for their bodies?”
You might be doing this for yourself as well. Perhaps you’ve asked, “What’s a good goal for me this year?” Or maybe you’ve defended your behavior by saying, “Hey… This isn’t a bad thing that I’m doing. It’s a good thing. Why are you upset with me for doing a good thing?”
There’s a problem with good.
Lots of things are good.
Kids are good. Work is good. Friendships are good. Money can be good.
Good things aren’t bad. They’re just not best things.
Often we lose our lives to good things and neglect the best things.
That’s the problem with good. It’s not best.
Maybe it’s time to start asking God what’s best instead of what’s right. Be careful, though. This isn’t a light-hearted prayer. This is a prayer that evokes significant movement and change in our lives.
When we start to identify what’s best, we’re forced to say “No” to many good things.
Good isn’t bad, but “good” is the enemy of best.
Maybe it’s time to stop asking God if this or that is good for your kids. Maybe it’s time to start asking God what’s best for your kids. And… If you respond to God’s best, it’ll require you to say “no” to many good things.
Under .02% or all kids involved in athletics will become a professional athlete. Every kid will stand before Jesus one day. Which one is best… participating in travel ball or being wholly committed to a church family? If you have to choose: Choose what’s best, not what’s good.
Let’s stop asking “What is good?”. There’s a better question and that question is “What is best?”
If we start asking that question, lots of things will change in our lives, our families, our hearts, and our environment as we align our lives to God’s best!
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What is something GOOD that you need to sacrifice for something that’s BEST?
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