My Best

"Since it is the Living Lord in the final analysis who appraises our excellence, 

it is He whom we must please and serve, honor and adore. For His eyes only we 

commit ourselves to living above the level of mediocrity.  

He deserves our very best; nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. 

That alone is excellence." 

Chuck Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity

It's funny how God chooses to speak to us sometimes. There is the speaking through Scripture, through other people, through music. There is also the random book you pick up and skim through because there is nothing else to do. God speaks through that too. That is where I got this quote. On our team retreat planning for ministry next semester I was bored one night and started reading a Swindoll book from the 80's. Classic 80's Christian book design- title in a swirly script font and a picture of an eagle on the cover. Pretty great.

I was just hoping to pass the time and maybe get a nugget of wisdom or two. But as is often the case, God showed up and blew me away. On the last page of the book those five words "he deserves our very best" hit me like a pile of bricks. I couldn't stop thinking about it. 

The questions swirled through my mind the next few days. Am I giving God my very best? What does that even look like? What is my best right now? What does giving him my best mean for next year? If I came back to Japan for a second year of STInt would I be able to truly give him my best? Tough questions to answer honestly. Questions that demand sacrifice and challenge faith.

I've been praying through what next year will look like for awhile now. It's been a lot of back and forth, a lot of wrestling with God, a lot of tears, fear, trust, and surrender. Considering what it meant for me to give God my best was the new perspective I needed. All he asks is our best. He doesn't demand perfection, he just wants us, broken but redeemed people to hold our lives with open hands to be used for his glory. The crazy thing is whatever we give to him was really his in the first place. Why is it so hard to give when it was given to us to begin with? 

In Romans 6:13 Paul calls us to "offer [ourselves] to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of [our bodies] to him as instruments of righteousness." We have been bought with the precious, holy blood of Christ and have the opportunity to live 100% for his glory. Being redeemed doesn't mean giving our best is easy. God doesn't promise us an easy life, it's pretty much just the opposite actually. But he does promise joy in the face of suffering, he promises eternal awards to those who make sacrifices on earth for His name's sake, he promises to be near. I believe these promises to be true and I also believe that God deserves my very best. As insignificant as my best might be, I want it to be fully his.