When Your Best Isn't Good Enough, Part 2

Four hundred and six miles.

That's how far we drove, if memory serves, one day on my recent trip.

Montana is a big state, and there is a lot to see. Smoke, however, kept us from some locations. Instead, we searched all around, and on this particular day, we ended up looking for a waterfall. It wasn't one that either of us knew much about; we weren't even really sure where it was. Well, other than which trailhead to go to. We arrived with a couple of hours of sunlight left, and began the upward trod (very upward) up the trail.

It didn't take too long before we heard the river, though we couldn't see it yet. Further up the trail, we spotted a small offshoot, but figured the waterfall should be a bit further up, so we continued.

Finally, we got a good view of the canyon, but no waterfalls were to be had. Shortly after, we spoke to two hikers who told us there wasn't much further up, but that the larger falls were closer to where we started. Oh, well, exercise is good. As you probably guessed, that small offshoot was the trail to the waterfall. Here's a little (obvious) tip: download or print out maps beforehand.

We finally made it to the waterfall. But what we found was frustrating. The waterfall itself plunged a good eighty or more feet into the canyon. There was no way down. The other side of the river was private property, not that it yielded any route to the bottom. And so, we were stuck with really only one view of the waterfall.

Don't get me wrong, the falls were awesome. Photographically speaking, however, there just weren't many options. We did the best we could, but really, it wasn't enough to get what either of us wanted, so we packed our bags and hoofed it out to drive around and hopefully find another spot. We didn't.

I'm reminded of a difficult verse from Isaiah:

"For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;" - Isaiah 64:6a.

In other words, even our best efforts are no better than filthy rags. While I understand there's a historical and Scriptural context to this passage, in short, our works do not earn us entry into God's presence, nor do they merit His forgiveness. We have nothing to offer God for our salvation.

Paul puts it like this:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9.

You can try as much and as hard as you want, but it will never earn you a right standing before the perfectly holy God of the universe.

My friend and I tried as best we could, but at the end of the day, it wasn't good enough. And we ended up with very little as a result.

I was sharing with a friend of mine recently that no just judge would let a murderer go free, even if that murderer spent most of their life as a philanthropist. God's justice is even higher, and free from the fallen nature of man; He's not going to let sin slide.

But what grace it is that instead of rightfully condemning all of us to suffer under His wrath for eternity, He sent His Son to die in the place of sinners, bearing that wrath on their behalf.

Remember, even your best isn't good enough. But Jesus' best is perfection; He kept God's perfect standard. The choice is before you: Trust in your best, which isn't good enough. Or trust in Jesus and His best, which is truly enough to save you.

If you've never called on Christ to save you, today is the day. If you do, then you can know that He took God's wrath on Himself, in your place. And you can know that when God looks at you as His child, He will no longer see your best efforts (which are as filthy rags), but will see Christ's, which are perfect.