"Good choice."
"Life is good."
"Good weather."
"Good song."
"Good food."
How much of my life is good? A majority, in my view. The term, "good" has become a now elevated meaning in my brain, my vocabulary, my lifestyle. I view myself as "good". I have always been a "good girl", the "teacher's pet", a "favorite" of social circles and when nothing too upheaving is happening, I tell people, "It's all good"; when I need little, I say, "I'm good." However, I have re-discovered the so-called "Good" and it's taxing precedence in my own life.
I am good at order; a Type-A personality and an eye for detail support it. I am efficient and loathe the idea that something may take longer than actually needed to achieve if done "improperly". And the biggest battle? I am "good" at everything. Seriously. Anything I try, I do. If I try to keep a schedule, I do. If I try to be creative, I am. If I try to make something work, I do. Usually, I would think this a good thing. Efficiency? Check. Thoroughness? Check. Check.
All that to say, even the "Steph 4.0" (the fleshly girl who is all about perfection instead of the One who is Perfect) is good. Practicality and viewpoint of what must be fixed is always present. And it's good. The Lord graciously told me so. But He also included an additional statement of, "but only one thing is needed...what is BETTER".
When is being good, bad? When I am satisfied with it. When "good" is all I am after. When Steph 4.0 is enough. When her efforts and mere attempts are a reality and she focuses on the task to be done, instead of the One to Whom it is being done for. That is when good is bad. And that is when doing must be secondary to being. (insert repentance here.)
s: "Oh, but Lord, I am up against SO much! Can you not see me?!"
G: "El Roi".
s: "What about my broken perspective?! I've got issues, You know!"
G: "Jehovah Rophe".
s: "I'm lacking."
G: "Yahweh Yireh".
s: "I'm scared."
G: "Yaweh Shalom".
s: "I'm alone and fighting a foe I cannot see - and- I have no resources."
G: "Yahweh Tsebaoth".
"Teach me Thy Way, O Lord;
I will walk in Thy Truth;
Unite my heart to fear Thy name."
Good or Better?
Better.
