Going for Second Best

by Keith Gardner

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.'  I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way." –Exodus 33:1-3

Do you see the sadness with me? The People of Promise going to the land foretold without their God. God so tired of the stubbornness, the rebellion, the bickering and complaining, and the unbelief; decides to send an angel ahead, instead of Himself. I often wonder how much of my life, my Christian walk, is filled with God’s second best. Do I miss out on all that God wants for me because of my not listening; not learning? Why is it that I, too often, think I know best? How can I ever imagine that I can see around the bend in the road from my straight line perspective?

There is an arrogance that fills a man. In our created mind we determine that we can measure the Creator. The book of Job, tells us the story. Job is put to the test. Is his belief in God rooted deep in conviction or buried in the shallow depths of his blessings? Can his faith stand the test of a trial? In Job’s suffering his “friends” come to comfort him by questioning his integrity. A loving God would not allow such a catastrophe without the justification of a sin filled life. You get what you deserve, Job is lovingly told. Job knows his integrity. He defends his righteousness. He measures God by deciding that God has simply lost interest in him. God’s interests are in other things. In the end, God reminds Job the one thing we should never forget, but have such a hard time remembering; and that is the Greatness of God.

The scripture tell us that the heavens are His throne and the earth is His footstool. If the finger of God can eclipse the sun how can we measure His vastness? How can we ever comprehend Him? Likewise, if God is so small that we can realize His greatness, or understand His mind, then He is too small to be God. No, God is not so small. We can never grasp His greatness or understand His thinking. It is easier to say that He is not there than to accept our inability to know Him.

In spite of our smallness and His greatness, God has chosen to make Himself known. He has given us glimpses into His names and His nature. Instead of our comprehending the whole, our focus should be on the revealed. Learn what is taught. Know what is made known. Live in the application of understanding. Never settle for God’s second best.