God's Best
If ‘good’ is God’s best, then how can we be anything less?
Have you ever been told, “Just do your best!”? Most of us at some point have been told to try and do our best. But what is our best? How do we know when we have done our best? Can it be measured? Can it even be attained? I’ve personally been told this phrase numerous times, and I've usually answered the question with this phrase numerous times, “All I can do is what I can do and that IS my best.” But what if you haven’t seen what you can do? What if you do not know what you are capable of because you haven’t seen it?
In the study of Quantum Physics, we study things at the subatomic level (a level where you cannot see with the naked eye). Protons, neutrons, and electrons. Did you know there needs to be a disturbance for an electron to “exist.”? In some scientific circles, it is said, “For an electron to exist, it needs to be seen.” However, for something to be “seen” light must be involved. What if all you can do is all you can do because you haven’t seen what you can do...yet.
Let’s talk about God, what He sees, and His intentionality towards you. In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness”. (NASB) God then commanded in the remaining verses of chapter 26 for mankind to rule and subdue the earth including the animals and plant life. God created man last, so He was intentional about this order. I love how the scripture states God said, “Behold!” before He presented what He created to man. I read that as, “Look what I made for you! Don’t you just love it! It’s all yours to manage.” God was intentional. He made it and it was good. In verse 31 it says, “And God saw ALL (emphasis mine) that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” There's that word “BEHOLD” again. But not at any time did God say it was the BEST! He never said, “Boy, we really outdid ourselves by making man in our image. I think we’re done”. No, instead He set in motion freedom and entered perpetual rest.
When looking up the word ‘good’ in the Blue Letter Bible (BLB), the word has many different meanings in many different places. The definition for this ‘good’ is, serviceable, adequate, and sufficient. Not what one expects from the Creator creating creation is it? We’ll come back to this in a moment.
I love how in scripture after each thing God created, it says He ‘saw’ it was good. I have a wonderment that the goodness of the created thing didn’t exist until God ‘saw’ it. Much, in the same way, it is for electrons, God made a disturbance in space and time to create and noticed it was good...very good. So now there is existence. What’s also interesting is that when I tried looking up the word ‘saw’ like I did with the word ‘good’, it sent me to the definition of the word ‘tools’. How fascinating that tools are used in creating things, and this tool is sight. Additionally, light must be present to physically see. John 8:12 says, Then Jesus said, “I AM light to the world, and those who embrace me will experience life-giving light, and they will never walk in darkness.”(TPT) We know Jesus was present at the creation, and He is the light we need in order to see the goodness of God. Sit with that for a moment. This isn’t just any old light. This is life-giving light! Jesus is how we see how good God is and how good His creation is, including you! When we filter our lenses through Jesus, we naturally see goodness and life.
Getting back to the definition of ‘good’. Serviceable, adequate, sufficient. I thought of several scriptures I want to point out here. The first is Matthew 20:28. It states, “For even the Son of Man did not come expecting to be served, but to serve and give His life in exchange for the salvation of many.” (TPT) backing up a few verses, “Kings and those with great authority in this world rule oppressively over their subjects, like tyrants. But this is not your calling. You will lead by a completely different model. The greatest one among you will live as the one who is called to serve others because the greatest honor and authority is reserved for the one with the heart of a servant.” (v. 25-27 TPT) The second scripture I thought of is 2 Corinthians 12:9. The commentary portion states, “My grace is continuously sufficient in you.” God created us in His image, with Jesus there allowing us to see His goodness in Himself and others. Good is not mediocre. It is serviceable, adequate, and sufficient. If ‘good’ is God’s best, then how can we be anything less?
God set in motion His creation. He set us apart, put the Holy Spirit in us, and gave us the heart and mind of Christ to accomplish His purpose. Now He’s resting. His Word was sent out to accomplish, and that is exactly what it is doing. Because we are still breathing, we still have a purpose as well. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” I’m not sure which version this is because it is Chuck Smith’s commentary, but I like it. God has thoughts of you with an expected end...and they are good! They are full of hope and a future.
Going back to this question in the beginning...What if you do not know what you are capable of because you haven’t seen it? What if God has already ‘seen’ what you are capable of when He created you, and He wants you to see it too? So, the charge for you then is to rest in God. Ask Him what thoughts He has for you. See yourself how Jesus sees you and get to work doing it. Go back into time at creation and ask Jesus how He sees you. Ask Him the thoughts and plans He has for you. I suggest not necessarily thinking about a job or an activity. I suggest exploring the Fruit of the Spirit. Ask God which fruit He wants to cultivate in you. Then when moments of offense, stress, or frustration come, seek Him to be something or someone for you at that moment so you can become more like Him exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit. Notice it’s FRUIT, singular. In other words, it’s the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in you. Galatians 5:16-26.
One last thing. I mentioned earlier that God set us in motion with freedom. Pay attention to what is said in Galatians 5:21, “Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their ‘freedom’ for these things will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!” So, see yourself exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit. Call out your own gold. See who God created. Create a disturbance and see the existence of you. Get to work doing that and you will see what you are truly capable of in Christ. And it is very good.