The Good Competes with the Best

I'm reading a devotional written by Cynthia Heald.  It is called "Becoming a Woman of Simplicity."  One of the best chapters so far has been "The Good Competes with the Best."  In it, she describes that sometimes we choose lots of good things, but neglect the one or two best things.  I really enjoy reading her studies because she not only has you look up a lot of scripture, but she provides lots of quotes from various people.

Here are a few quotes from this chapter that I thought worth sharing:

In seeking the Best we soon find that our enemy is our good things, not our bad.  The things that keep us back from God's best are not sin and imperfection, but the things that are right and good and noble from the natural standpoint.... Very few of us debate with the sordid and evil and wrong, but we do debate with the good.
-Oswald Chambers

So how do we choose the best?  How do we distinguish what is good and what is best?

At first, we want the awareness of being guided by God.  But then, as we grow spiritually, we live so fully aware of God that we do not even need to ask what His will is, because the thought of choosing another way will never occur to us.  If we are saved and sanctified, God guides us by our everyday choices.  And if we are about to choose what He does not want, He will give us a sense of doubt or restraint, which we must heed.  Whenever there is doubt, stop at once.  Never try to reason it out saying, "I wonder why I shouldn't do this?"  God instructs us in what we choose; that is, He actually guides our common sense.
-Oswald Chambers

And what really encouraged my heart was that she gave me "permission" to choose one thing, and do that well.  As the summer approaches (along with my due date), looking around my life I see a lot of good things I'm doing.  After the new baby comes, I'm going to really have to take a step back (as hard as it will be) and focus on being a mommy - and being really good at that.