No Good Thing

Psalm 84:11 ...no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Truly, The Lord has our best interests at heart. Obviously, what we consider good for ourselves and what He considers for our good are usually two completely different things.

There are times I think maybe mission work on an Island paradise would be in my best interests, or maybe a mission to the wildlife to the Montana mountains would be good for me. I am thinking now that the Lord has a better idea for me.

Have you ever put a jigsaw puzzle together? I don't mean a 15 piece Dora the Explorer puzzle for your toddler, I mean the big, bad 500 piece babies that takes days or weeks. The ones that take over a coffee table for a while.

Every piece of the puzzle has its place. And when the puzzle is complete, you feel a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I start with those edges. I get the sky together, then the ground and the sides. Then you start matching colors and figures. What a process.

Our lives are an interlocking puzzle. Everyone and everything around us is part of that puzzle. No piece can be forced to fit where it doesn't belong.

God is the One who has the picture on the box, so He knows if a piece belongs or not. He will never force a piece where it doesn't belong. The good things in life He allows us to have are those pieces fitting in just right. But the good things we sometimes desire are forced puzzle pieces. A new Corvette, a set of $1000 golf clubs, membership in an elite club, etc., might seem like a good thing to me, but they don't fit in God's plan for me and others around me. So I get a Chrysler, a set of $400 clubs (which I never use anymore) and membership in my church instead. My, how that all works out so much better!

Also, If I were to force perceived good things into my puzzle, it may not be good for someone else's good things. Imagine, if I made that move to minister in Bali, where would that leave a sheep of the flock where I am who considers me a good and necessary piece of their puzzle?

When we not only need, but also desire something good, the Lord let's that request come through the filter of His wisdom as He considers the whole picture of the finished puzzle and then grants us what is truly the best for us.

Never sacrifice the good for what is best!