Don’t Settle For Less

God created each of us for greatness. When we settle for less, we are essentially saying that we are not worthy of more. Sometimes we get used to the way things are and grow complacent. In some small way, bit by bit, we grow accustomed to not getting what we need, not reaching goals, learning to accept less than what we know in our hearts is the life we long to live, the way we long to live it. The danger of complacency is that while we are in the midst of it, we may not even realize that our lives are deficient in many ways, particularly in the area of faith.

Sometimes the circumstances of life bring us down, make us hang our heads in shame, sadness, grief and apathy. Events in our lives make us feel like we have no more fight within us, and even if we had just a little bit left, what’s it all for anyway?

Jesus says, in John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Each morning when you swing your feet off the side of your bed and step onto the floor to begin your day, you have exhibited faith: the faith to keep going, faith to strive for more, faith to accomplish what you need to during the day.

If God tells us that He has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly, then who are we to settle for less than everything he wants for us in our lives, to nullify the gifts and the Spirit within us? Perhaps the greatest depravity of the human spirit is to settle. When we settle something inside of us dies, but a living faith – a faith that is alive – even from the smallest kindling in our hearts, will encourage us to yell at those mountains to get out of our way, to walk through fire and come out OK on the other side.

When you think you are surrounded on all sides and have no way out, that the circumstances of your life are more than you can deal with and you are tempted to lose your faith, tempted to settle for less than you are worth—remember the parable of Daniel in the lions’ den:

“So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”
 A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.
 At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “May the king live forever!My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”  Daniel 6: 16-21 (NIV)