Have you ever had to make a difficult decision in your life? I’m sure we all have. There are two types of decisions we all have to make in life. Ones that deal with right and wrong. And those that deal with better and best. The questions that deal with right and wrong are a little easier to make as we read God’s Word. After all Psalm 119:105 says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine (what to believe), reproof (identifying what we do wrong), correction (how to correct it), and instruction in righteousness (how to live a holy life). Therefore, it stands to reason if we consult God’s Word, we will be able to appropriately make a decision between right and wrong. But what about the other type of decision?
I believe a decision between what is better and which is best is the most difficult choice we have to make. After all, neither decision is wrong it is just about which is the best decision. My family and I had one of those decisions here recently. I am not exaggerating when I say that my wife and I wrestled with this for weeks and went back and forth. We prayed and we talked, we prayed more and talked more, and that pattern repeated itself for weeks. Finally, we felt as though God gave us the best answer and we are going with it. There is a biblical example of a decision between better and best. It is found in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus was visiting some friends, Mary and Martha. When Jesus arrived at the house, Martha got very busy serving serving. However, her sister Mary went and sat at the feet of Jesus. Not surprising, Martha got a little perturbed at this and in verse 40 says, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” It should be pointed out here that in those days, Martha did what was expected of a host. Therefore, she wasn’t doing anything wrong (minus maybe blaming Jesus for Mary’s decision). Jesus’ response to Martha was, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Jesus calmly responds and says “Martha, you are worried about too many things. Your sister has chosen the best thing to do.” In this case and in most cases which involves a decision between which is better and which is best, it was all about priorities. What is really the most important?
Let’s apply this to church for a moment. Do a lot of churches do a lot of good things? Absolutely! However, if we are honest many of those good things benefit those who regularly worship at the church rather than reaching the lost. Should be take care of the building that God has provided for us? Again the answer is absolutely we should. But should it take precedence over reaching the lost with the Gospel? The clear answer to that is no it shouldn’t. A church and its leadership should always be evaluating what is the best way to spend what we have been entrusted with? How can we reach more people, while at the same time taking care of what we have been blessed with. Is it easy? Absolutely not! But is it necessary? Absolutely it is.
Finally, let’s apply this to our personal lives. Again, we must remember that this is about our priorities. If we want to know what our priorities are, we need to look at where we spend our time, use our talents, and where does our money go? Once our priorities are identified, we need to pray and ask God, are they the best priorities we could have? Of course if they aren’t, then we need to make adjustments. This isn’t always easy, but it is necessary if we are going to live a life that pleases God. A great question to ask yourself in order to make one of these difficult decisions is this, Lord, given my current God-given priorities, which one of these options is the best? Trust that He will give you the answer in His time, and then follow it.
By His grace and through His strength may we live for Him