Early in my years as a pharmaceutical sales manager, I was offered two postings in the same season. One was a comfortable, well-established territory close to family. The other was a demanding, unglamorous region that badly needed rebuilding. Both were good opportunities, and nobody would have faulted me for choosing the comfortable one.
What finally decided it was not which option was easier, but which one would stretch the gifts I had been given and serve people who needed the work done more urgently. It was not a choice between right and wrong. It was a choice between good and best, and it shaped years of my career and my character in ways the comfortable posting probably would not have.
Paul’s Prayer for Discernment
Paul prayed for the believers at Philippi:
“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.” (Philippians 1:9-10, NKJV)
The Greek behind “the things that are excellent” literally means “the things that differ”. Paul was not only praying that believers would tell good from evil, which most mature Christians can do reasonably well. He was praying for the harder skill of placing two good options side by side and seeing which one truly fits the moment and the will of God. Sin is usually easy to spot when we are honest. Two good things competing for our yes are far harder to choose between.
Mary Chose the Good Part
Jesus drew this line for two sisters who both loved Him:
“But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she came to Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'” (Luke 10:40-42, NKJV)
Jesus did not call Martha’s serving bad. Hospitality and hard work are commended throughout Scripture. Martha was choosing something good at the moment when something better was available, and that moment would not last. Mary saw that this visit called for something the kitchen could not offer: sitting still long enough to listen.
David’s Good Idea
Once David was settled in his palace, it troubled him that the ark of God was still kept in a tent. He told the prophet Nathan he wanted to build God a house, and Nathan told him to go ahead (2 Samuel 7:2-3). It seemed an obviously good plan. That night God sent Nathan back with a different message: “You shall not build Me a house to dwell in” (1 Chronicles 17:4, NKJV). Instead, “the LORD tells you that He will make you a house” (2 Samuel 7:11, NKJV).
The temple would be built, but not by David and not yet. His desire was good; it simply was not God’s plan for that season. To his credit, David accepted the correction without resentment instead of pushing his own good idea through.
Choosing Seed Yams
At harvest a yam farmer looks over dozens of healthy yams, all of them fit for the pot. From that pile he carefully chooses a smaller set to keep as seed yams. He does not simply take the biggest. He picks those that are mature, free of blemish and disease, and shaped well for cutting into seed pieces. If he grabs whatever is nearest, nobody notices at first, because the yam looks fine going into the ground. The cost of choosing “good” over “best” only shows months later in a smaller harvest.
Is there a decision in front of you now where you are drifting towards the good option because it is easier to justify? Before you decide, set aside time to pray as Paul did, asking God for the discernment to approve what is excellent, and be ready, like David, to let go of a good idea if He shows you a better one.
