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Redefining Better | Who Gets To Decide What Is Better?
We all have a definition of better
But what do we mean by better?
This series is will help us define what is really BETTER
Expectations:
We all have the expectation that things will be or should be better.
Heres the problem
Whenever we think of better, it is always what we want that defines it
Want my version of:
- Better Job
- Better House
- Better Spouse
- Better location
- Better Opportunities
But here is something we all know…
What we think is better isn’t always better
Over the next few weeks, we need to REDEFINE BETTER
The big question is:
Who gets to define what is BETTER for us?
Obviously, most of us would say God.
- But are we living that out
Tension: It is hard to
- Wait on God’s better
- Desire God’s better
- Be satisfied with God’s better
To understand the problem, we must go back to how and where it started
God only gives them ONE command
Genesis 2
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Why did God put the tree in the garden
1 – In order for love to be true, it must have a choice
- God did not want us to be robots
- He wants us to CHOOSE to follow Him
2 – God would give man and woman the knowledge of Good and Evil eventually but in his own time
Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
They decided that they knew what was BETTER for them
We have been doing the same thing ever since.
But was it really better?
Redefine Better:
Better is what God asks or wants for me over my own wants and plans
God’s better will always be better than your version of better
Isaiah 55
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat,
11 so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.”
12 You will indeed go out with joy and be peacefully guided; the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up; this will stand as a monument for the Lord, an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
History has shown humanity continually making the same decision
Let’s look at one more story
- Story of Solomon
- Became king after His father David
- Chooses to follow God in leading the kingdom
2 Chronicles 1
7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask. What should I give you?”
8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and faithful love to my father David, and you have made me king in his place. 9 Lord God, let your promise to my father David now come true. For you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
10 Now grant me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people, for who can judge this great people of yours?”
Solomon chooses right
- He asks God to give him what we have wanted for ourselves for so long
- Asks God for HIS wisdom, His Knowledge, His Better
- All this to bless the people, bless others
Choosing God’s Better will give you a better life
- Not saying easy
- Not the life you thought you wanted
- The life God has given you
Proverbs 3
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
8 This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.
9 Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;
10 then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
11 Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline;
12 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.