Untieing God's Best?

"I don't want to settle for anything less then God's best", I've used this phrase often in my life. Today though as I was peddling away on a stationary bike I started thinking. What truly is God's best? The phrase conjures up images of the perfectly happy believer who has finally discovered and learned to walk in "God's best". The testimony given on Sunday by the joyful person who has finally quit struggling in their Christian walk.
It sounds idealistic...like a fairy tale with happy children for main characters. They chose the right path and no dangers assault them on their journey home.

Is "God's best" a path found by those who rightly seek? Is it found through practicing the right Christian disciplines? As I peddled I began to feel the idea I have always had of God's best untie itself and fall at my feet. Was what I searching for something I could ever find? The conclusion my tired heart came to today was that God's best doesn't mean that my job will be secure, my identity clear, my relationships fulfilling, or my bank account consistent.

"God's best" is not a reward for those who pull the right chains, live with purpose, pray like Jabez, vote like a republican, and read through the Bible in a year. The heart of God's desire for us has more to do with trusting then with following a sequence of correct life decisions. More about daily walking then daily achieving. Paul was stoned and shipwrecked living in the will of "God's Best". Christ was crucified. Jeremiah ignored. Ezekiel lost a wife. Esther risked her life. Moses wandered in the desert.
I am beginning to realize that obedience; messy, uncomfortable, and sometimes lonely; obedience is the heart of "God's best".