Choosing What's Best

There are so many options today. The local supermarket is sprawling with aisles of choices. Stores are filled to capacity with brand named clothes and new gadgets to enamor the public. The internet allows a world full of information at the touch of a button and we can fill our minds and homes at the speed of light. Having too many options can actually be our worst enemy at times.

So what does a Christian woman need to keep her focus on?

The best.

What is the best defined as today? The best car, the best clothes, the best home....? No, no, I am not suggesting we follow the world into their folly instead I want to define what priorities need to be kept for the Christian woman. Of all the voices that scream out to her, of all the responsibilities that demand her utmost attention---she must stand transfixed on the only thing that will matter and get her through it all and that is Jesus Christ.

Was it not Peter who walked on water when he kept his eyes fixed upon His Savior? A miracle of miracles performed before his very eyes, his feet splashing upon the water, his mind riveting with the wonder---and even more amazing---to look into the very eyes of God----just what did He see?

And aren't we just like him when we take our eyes off of Him? Doubt, failure...perhaps thinking we can do it ourselves. Distraction. What pulls our hearts away from Him? Pride? Worldliness? Hardened hearts? The same thing happens when our hearts are turned away from our homes and enticed by other worldly pursuits.

We must choose the best for our lives and our families on a daily basis. It will be hard. It will mean making tough choices. It will mean work. But it will all mean reaping glorious fruit in the end if we do not give up.

We must learn to say 'no'. Not just to the obvious, but also to things that are just good and not best. Have you every been running around in the car all day, feeling harried and just wish you could be home snuggling with a small child on the couch? Things that are not best come in deceptive packages so we must be very wise. We need to know what our top priorities are. Once again, let's take a close look at our priorities:

1. God

2. Husband

3. Children (family)

4. Home

Anything that can hinder this list needs to be closely evaluated. Nothing should hinder our time with the Lord, we should guard this time fiercely. Our husbands must be our priority even before the children and our homes. Our homes should not be neglected in pursuit of unnecessary things!

What are unnecessary things? Maybe it's signing up your family for too many activities or volunteering yourself when you know your top four priorities are being neglected. Perhaps it's that ministry that you said 'yes' to but now know you need to step down from. How about that 'to do' list that you have overdone and is keeping you too busy from doing what really counts? Or maybe you just took on a simple project that now needs to be put aside in order to get your life in order. We must learn to do choose what is best such as hugging a child instead of running off to do the next thing.

". . .we seem to have lost the knack of appreciating the ordinary. We provide our children with so much that the extraordinary isn't special any more, and the subtle rhythms of daily life elude us altogether. We do so much and savor too little. We mistake activity for happiness, and so we stuff our children's days with activities, and their heads with information, when we ought to be feeding their souls instead." - Katrina Kenison, Mitten Strings for God - Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry

Nothing is more freeing than knowing you are choosing the best for yourself and your family, and knowing that we spent our time well, with no regrets. 

(Reposted from the archives)