I had an interesting conversation with someone I hadn’t seen in a while, and as we were catching up, I had mentioned that I had recently moved to the next stage in the hiring process for a job. They were very excited for me, but the excitement was cut short once I said, “So, hopefully, I’m successful, and they hire me!”. As their smile faded away, their response was, “No, no, no, don’t just hope; you’ve gotta speak that into your life. Manifest that. It’s gonna happen!”

What this person didn’t know is that I tried the manifestation thing before and learned the hard way that it doesn’t work. So, with grace (thank you, Jesus), I just smiled and said that I would be content with whatever God decides to do. When I went home, I continued to think about this conversation and realized that we’ve come to a point, (some) Christians and non-believers, where we can’t accept the fact that sometimes what we believe would be most ideal won’t actually happen. We’re not content with the fact that some things we pursue won’t work out.

We’ve forgotten that God makes all things work together (Rom. 8:28), not just the good things from our point of view, but the not-so-great things too.

Being satisfied with God’s best can be a challenge when you don’t know exactly what He’s up to.

And that’s not to say that our pursuits can’t be in agreement with God. That depends on how much you focus on God and delight in Him despite what you’re hoping will come to pass (Ps. 37:4, Pr. 3:5-6). What I want to know is, will you be content with God’s best if it’s not your “ideal?” When I was faced with this dichotomy, I noticed that oftentimes we can be so fixated on what’s best in our eyes that we don’t even consider the fact that God may have something better in store. This means that the thing you’re pursuing, the job you applied for, that scholarship you applied for, etc., may not be what God has for you.

It may be what’s best for someone else, but when it comes to you, God sees that thing as incompatible, which means what He does have for you is tailor-made. It’s perfect.

God only gives perfect gifts (Js. 1:17). He may not give me the job I applied for, but He’ll gift me to perfection because He’s our Provider.

* queues Jireh by Maverick City *

I’m not telling you that God is against what you’re pursuing, but don’t be close-minded. Be open, and, more importantly, be content in knowing that Romans 8:28 still applies whether or not things work out your way. God is still good, so you’ll be good.