good vs. best

I dont' know if anyone else is familiar with "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, but it has remained a staple reading for me through out my Christian life. I've read through the devotional book several times over several years and it never ceases to challenge me. This week imparticular has kicked my butt. Two days worth of devotions are sticking with me and I just had to share these truths with you (whoever "you" may be :)

The first one came from Monday's devotional (See link here for web version: May23rd) This devotional refers to worry as infidelity against God. That is a strong word (infidelity) and seems like a very strong accusation to make about something as small as worry. But it got me thinking, how faithless am I to spend the majority of my time thinking and stressing about things that God has clearly told me he will take care of? How often have I considered not worrying just being irresponsible? Now I'm not saying that we should just quit worrying about paying the bills because Jesus will pay them (although he could :) But I was just so challenged that I do not have as much faith as I thought, that I am not abandoned to my God as I thought, that I want to control everything...I don't want His help. I don't want His provision because I can handle it. Wow, yeah, now infidelity doesn't seem so strong of a word to me. It challenged me that I need to keep giving God control, daily, and trust Him. Tough for my personality, but essential for my life.

The second challenge came today (see link here for web version: May 25th) I've heard the saying that "good" can be the enemy of "best" but for some reason the way Oswald wrote this entry really struck home. It made me wonder, how often have I confidently chosen "right" or "good" only to give up experiencing "best"? Again, it's a control thing for me, for all of us...to believe we know what is best. The perfect example I can think of from my life is Sydney. We didn't plan her timing. We were on the brink of moving to Seattle, me starting grad school, waiting another year or two to start a family. It was a good plan. It felt right to us.  But it wasn't best. God chose for us. And although we still could have moved and I still could have started grad school, we didn't feel like it was the best God had for us. Instead we got to stay in Arkansas for another year with people who had become family. I got to be a stay at home mom for almost all of Sydney's first year. And best of all, we got Sydney. Even though it wasn't our timing, it was the very best thing that ever happened to us and proved itself to be the PERFECT timing. God used this devotional to remind me of this great example in my own life of how awesome it is when I leave Him in the control seat and let him choose. Best definitely wins over good. Every time.

So, Oswald may not be for everyone but if you are looking to be challenged with some simple (and some not so simple) truths, you should check out this classic....My Utmost for His Highest