The Best We Can

Luke 19:26 - " 'Yes,' the king replied, 'and to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given.  But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.' "

Do you ever wonder if you are doing the best that you can with the gifts that God has blessed you with?  I think a lot of us do.  I know I sure do.  I think about it every day.

Over time, I have accepted that God doesn't expect me to be perfect, and He doesn't expect me to do everything.  As a perfectionist, this is hard to accept sometimes.  He didn't give me the talent to do everything.  He gave all of us certain talents to use to spread the Word of His Gospel message to those who need to hear it.  The problem I have always had, is that I always feel as though I am not doing enough.

I always feel like I could be doing more.  Since I'm not, I start to question whether I am doing what I do properly.  When I don't hear answers, I tend to question what I'm doing even more.  But something struck me when I read this passage this morning.  The reason I don't hear the answers I'm looking for, is because I'm not asking the right questions.  Instead of me asking God if I'm doing all I can, I should be asking if I'm being faithful with what I am currently doing.

It's not for me to figure out what more I can do.  That's what God does.  He will give us all more to do when He is satisfied that we have been faithful in what He has tasked us to do.  If I wanted to to be a long distance runner (which I would never want to do), but I wasn't able to walk, that would be a problem.  God may want me to be a long distance runner at some point, but He wants me to learn how to walk first.  He wants me to build up the strength in my legs and lungs so that I can get to where He wants me to be.  He will always give me what I need to succeed as long as I'm being faithful and obedient to following His steps.  Therein lies the key.

Following His steps is hard to do.  God doesn't work on our timetable, and for someone who struggles with patience as I do, it's hard to wait for Him to show me the next step.  Part of Him building me towards the next step of where He wants me to be, is building my patience.  God doesn't just focus on building one aspect of our gifts and talents, He focuses on building them all, we just don't realize it at the time.

One thing we have to be weary of are distractions.  Anything that distracts us from serving our purpose for God's Kingdom is both a danger and helpful at the same time.  It's dangerous for the obvious reasons, but how is it helpful?  It's helpful, because it shows us that we are on the right path.  The enemy wouldn't bother tempting or distracting us if we weren't.

Nehemiah caught on to his enemies plans when he was trying to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.  His reply to his enemies who were trying to take him away from his work and were plotting his death was a great one.  In Nehemiah 6:3 he said, "I replied by sending this message to them: "I am engaged in a great work, so I can't come.  Why should I stop working to come and meet with you?"  I love his response.  He recognized that they were trying to kill him, which also reinforced his belief that his work was for the Lord, and was therefore more important than anything they could say or do to him.

Do you ever feel distracted from following God's plan?  That's a good sign if you are.  That also means that we need to work harder to resist the enemy's distractions and stay focused on God's work for His Kingdom, and do the best we can at the task He has assigned us.  The more we are faithful with, the more He will trust us with.

Dear Lord, thank You for reminding me that I need to keep focused on You for the work You are doing in and through me.  Please give me the patience as well as the tools I need to remain obedient to You, and not try to speed things up according to my timetable.  I know that You will make me ready when You are ready for me to take the next step.  I pray for those that are struggling with these same issues.  My prayer is that they will see that nothing is done by their own strength, and that they need to remember to trust in You for everything.  I pray we will resist the distractions of the enemy and focus on the great work You have for us all.  In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen!



God Bless!!!