At home, my parents were always encouraging me, telling me I could do anything I put my mind to. In their eyes, everything I did was wonderful. I didn’t have to color inside the lines. I could make a tree purple and the sky pink if I wanted to. All they required was for me to do my best. That was good enough.
So I did my best to do my best.
With all that encouragement, I paid attention in class and excelled, academically. I was never the “teacher’s pet,” but I was generally regarded as a “promising student.”
Many of my teachers wanted me to pursue a career in their area of interest. All the vocations appealed to me, but I couldn’t pursue them all. In which one would “my best” be good enough?
Since I was the youngest and smallest in my class, I wasn’t very good at sports. When teams were chosen, I tried to smile as I waited to be the last one picked. Obviously, my best wasn’t good enough.
In the Bible, one servant was condemned for a lack of effort (Matthew 24:24–30). Why did he bury his talent instead of using it? He thought his Lord was demanding results, and he would never be good enough.
Instead of choosing a career, I chose to go wherever God would lead me. My success has been and always will be good enough, because God has been the miracle worker, taking care of the results.
To be good enough to please the Lord, we need only do our best for him.
People who put to good use what they have will gain more, but people who do nothing with what they have will lose what they have hidden. — Matthew 25:29 from Eyewitness: The Life of Christ Told in One Story