Why Settle?

What is “safe” and “familiar” is sometimes inferior and detrimental. I know that I’m not the only person that has been burned, by this idea. Whether it's that old pair of socks, slightly tattered pair of shoes, the old clunker that you drive that drains your wallet dry and eats away at your time due to the constant need for repairs, etc. More importantly it could be a relationship, a job, a hobby or a ministry/service that you are involved in, we all have “settled” in some area, or at some point in our lives.

We settled by sticking with “what we know” or what we were comfortable with, simply because it was what we were accustomed to. We defended our stance to anyone who would challenge us to try “the more up to date” or superior version of the product that we were using and sadly some if not all us have rationalized staying at a dead-end job, being in a relationship with a “loser” or remaining in a life situation and doing nothing to change it when our talents aren’t being recognized, utilized or appreciated.

Going with what is “safe” and “familiar” in some cases leads to complacency and “settling”. It can be crippling and can stunt personal growth. It can blind us even to the point where if God placed something 1,000,000 times better for us, in the long run, right in front of our faces, we would ignore it, because it was not “familiar” or “safe”

This was the case with the disciples of John the Baptist. John 3:23-30 reads:

²³ At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism. ²⁴ (This was before John was thrown into prison.) ²⁵ A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew^[a] over ceremonial cleansing. ²⁶ So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ ²⁹It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. ³⁰ He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

John’s disciples were so caught up in “what was safe” (we are following John) that they could not appreciate the might work that was taking place in the life of Jesus, nor that John himself was clear about who Jesus was and that John was only “preparing the way”. The “followers of John” were more concerned about what was “safe”, (we are followers of the “great baptistizer”) that they missed out on an opportunity to receive something much greater (to be a follower of the Messiah). I sense that they were disturbed that people were now beginning to follow “Someone” else and not the person that they used to. The world as they knew it was changing.

John was very clear. He was just the “opening act”, but the “Main Event” was beginning and it was time for the world to open their eyes and recognize what was taking place. The Messiah had come. It was time to stop “settling” for less and to move on to the BEST (pardon the Jesse Jackson type phrasing). John was a “good” leader and person to follow, but he made it clear that someone far greater then he was “in the house”, so no one should “settle for” being a follower of John, since the Messiah was at hand.

What are you settling for? God has great plans for your life, for your marriage, for your relationships, for your ministry, for your service and for your career. I urge you to seek God’s will for you in these areas. Ask Him to help you to remove the “blinders” and to open your eyes to the greatness that He has planned for you. What you have right now maybe a “good” life, but God has the “Best” in store for you if you are bold enough to step outside of what is “safe” and “comfortable” to explore (under God’s direction) what God’s plans are for your life. Exercise your faith by stepping out on it.

Don’t continue to let your state of “Good” prevent you from becoming “GREAT”.

Be Blessed,

B