Professor and author C. S. Lewis said most human beings sell themselves short in this life when they could have so much more. Wrote Lewis,

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.[1]

Too easily pleased? Let’s assume you will have a full lifetime of 80-90 years. At the end, how do you want your life to be described? That you were happy? Or you were successful? Or that you achieved significance? Or what? What does it take to satisfy you?

C.S. Lewis said most of us sell ourselves short in life when what God wants for us is laid out plainly in Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares theLord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (ESV). God has plans for our welfare—yours and mine. His plans are always for our good. That doesn’t mean that unpleasant things will never happen to us. But it does mean that whatever He allows to happen will eventually turn out for our good if we seek Him and endeavor to live for Him day by day.

May God help us not to settle for less than His best for us. Stop for a moment right now and pray this prayer: “Lord, I don’t want to accept anything less than your best for my life. Please guide my steps every day. Tap me on the shoulder when I get out of line. Don’t let me stray from your best plan. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1629232-the-weight-of-glory,  accessed February 21, 2021.