Best Interest

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

― C.S. Lewis

My prayer life is a real tug o’ war with God.  At this stage of my life, I am operating under the assumption that God is sovereign and good.  I’ve had plenty of doubts over my life, but for the most part I take this as a given: God is working toward my best interest and greatest good (see Romans 8:28).  And this is where the tug o’ war really gets tense.  

I have lived long enough to know that what I want and my greatest good are not the same thing.  I have reluctantly accepted the fact that what is in my best interest is often not the thing or things that I am praying for.  I tug on the rope, trying to pull God my way, asking him to do things my way.  I ask him to resolve situations in a certain manner.  But God pulls back on the rope and resolves them in a way that strengthens my faith and triggers growth in my life.  I wait in discomfort while God does beautiful things in me and those I love.  We endure seasons of suffering while God is producing a bumper crop of growth and goodness.  It would probably behoove me to let go of the rope and surrender to God’s best for me.  But, man, it hurts!