Latest / Bible Tract Echoes Podcast / When God's Best Isn't Good Enough

Transcript

When God's Best Isn't Good Enough · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hello, friend.
• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Mike McCurrey.
• 0:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is Bible Tract Echoes.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've got a question for you.
• 0:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't tune out yet.
• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have you ever made a mistake?
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you're anything like me, the answer is yes.
• 0:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Many, many times over, I've made mistakes.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Just errors in judgment.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bone headed problems and just not thinking.
• 0:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Many of those hopefully many of those were secluded or or front-loaded on my life I made most of those before the age of 16 or they're about or at least let's hope that's the case But all seriousness I get irritated at my own mistakes other people's problems other people's issues of life I haven't walked a mile in your shoes.
• 0:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't explain to you exactly why you do what you do
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you can identify me, other people's mistakes, they don't bother me anywhere near as much as my own.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today, I'd like to share one of those mistakes that for some reason kind of percolated to the top of mine, I'm gonna share it with you today.
• 1:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was maybe eight, nine years older, so this was something of an uncommon occurrence, not me making mistakes, I made many of those, but this particular circumstance by family and I, we were on something of a vacation.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: We had taken a few days away, and
• 1:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: That is not something that happened routinely for the Maccurry family.
• 1:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: My dad still is to some degree Something of a workaholic.
• 1:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: He is driven and I appreciate that I've learned much from him But when we went on vacation
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: we vacationed hard too.
• 1:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: There were no leisurely days on the beach.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: There was no relaxation in hotel rooms.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, we were up at the crack of dawn because there was so much to see and so little time.
• 1:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have since come to find that there are two different types of vacations.
• 1:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: There is a kind where you actually relax.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And there's the kind the McCurry family took.
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: They were not very similar.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: But this particular vacation.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: I remember we were going to go to a fancy restaurant while we were on vacation and this was something of an uncommon occurrence.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: My father was, and still is, scrupulously.
• 2:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: A good steward of what God has given him.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: because of that, we did not waste and praise Lord, we did not want truthfully, some of his three boys, actually, all three of us might at times affectionately call my father a tight-wad and it's something that he has a little bit of affinity for, but we say it with the utmost respect because we were raised in such a way that debts and credit cards and all these types of things were things to be avoided and
• 2:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: things to be careful about the very minimum, but this day we were on vacation.
• 2:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Dad was feeling a little generous.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: We were going to go to a fancy restaurant.
• 3:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I do have to give a little bit of background.
• 3:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I have had and I'm getting better, something of an unhealthy relationship with food.
• 3:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: for a good portion of my life.
• 3:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've always been known as a big ear, but some self-diagnosing has identified maybe these scarcity mindset of my younger years might be partly to blame.
• 3:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: It ingrained in me the need to eat everything in sight whenever possible.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hunger, of course, on the prowl all the time, just over the next horizon.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so that was kind of my thought.
• 3:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Anytime there was a food, I would eat all of it.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Anytime there was mention of food, I began thinking, how what am I going to eat?
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to get as many calories in my face as possible.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I've since gotten better and more disciplined.
• 3:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so if you wonder, yes, I am anticipating the day, my metabolism comes to a screeching halt and I must get a hold of this now.
• 4:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so we were working on that.
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: But in all seriousness, this particular day, we were hungry.
• 4:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was a go-go-go type of day.
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: We had a lot going on, and so this expensive wreck stress-drawn Not usually frequented by our family.
• 4:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: We were out of town.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't familiar to us.
• 4:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'd never been there before.
• 4:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: We were in for a treat, wonder of wanders, dad, actually let me pick what I wanted.
• 4:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now you've got to realize there's an art form to choosing what you want off the menu in the Maccurry household.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, the top third of the menu price-wise was effectively off limits most of the time.
• 4:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: There was no chance.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: The creme d'Ilecrem, the highest levels, not a chance.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Are you a Tomahawk steak for $75?
• 4:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, sir, re.
• 5:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And far beyond for me to be foolish enough to choose that item because my father would instantly put the cabash on that.
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he would choose for me.
• 5:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would get three chicken nuggets or something like that.
• 5:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: This particular restaurant though Dad was feeling extra generous.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: I knew not to push my luck if you would, but I noticed as we walked in the waiter told us There is an all you can eat salad bar and I'm thinking wow not only can I eat almost almost anything on the menu within a reason
• 5:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: But there's this salad bar that I can fill up.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: You've never experienced an all you can eat salad bar like the McCurray's and the McCurray boys have.
• 5:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: You can put a lot of ham on a salad if you need to to fill up to make up for any lacking other places.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I just but only partly this particular day looking through the menu.
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can you imagine it sitting down?
• 5:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: Somewhat swanky restaurant not not really top tier.
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't have Michelin stars or anything but still
• 6:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, I'm talking about a mistake, and this is where I begin to go wrong.
• 6:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: You see, for most of my life, if we went to an Applebee's type place, a chilies or some run of the mill chain, we often didn't, because my family, we like to go to mom and pop places, go to places you couldn't just go every day, but I realize that there is a particular item on the menu, most menus,
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: that was a good choice.
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: For my situation, if you can't pick from the top third of the menu, you've got to look for that stradder right underneath.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so I would choose ribs.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, most restaurants, many restaurants I should say serve some version of pork ribs slathered in barbecue sauce.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: Can you think about it now?
• 6:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: Don't you wish you had some leftovers in the fridge?
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: You could just go pop it open and open up that to go container and just dive in.
• 6:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Ah, sounds good, doesn't it?
• 6:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, at this point in my life, ribs were a go-to.
• 7:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: Here's why.
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, it came with a good amount of calories.
• 7:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Normally, you get two sides and maybe even a salad on top of the sides.
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: But normally, it came with a good amount of food.
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: But here was the hack.
• 7:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Here was where I outmaneuvered my dad, every once in a while, a Christmas curry for listening to an out for just a moment, okay?
• 7:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: If I asked for the half rack of ribs, that normally sat right about the midpoint cost-wise of most on-trays on the menu.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you must realize, my dad is a good steward, and he's always looking for a deal.
• 7:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let's just say back in the day, you could get a half rack of ribs for $11.99.
• 7:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure they're more than that now.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: You realize, as you look at that menu, for sometimes only $14.99, just $3 more.
• 7:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: You could upgrade to the full rack of ribs.
• 7:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And that, of course, was well outside the normal, that was pushing into the top third.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would never ask for the full rack of ribs.
• 8:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: I would ask for that half rack of ribs, and then my father, he'd look down,
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a good deal.
• 8:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's only three dollars more.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: And of course, he realized there was going to be something of a, of a dad tax, right?
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was going to take at least one or two bones and he was going to eat those because that's what fathers are supposed to do.
• 8:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so he would recommend the upgrade to the full rack of ribs.
• 8:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: You see, this is where I begin to go wrong, because I'm looking at a beautiful menu.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's wide and tall and filled with so many great things.
• 8:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I looked down and I see an item called, Prime Rib.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: I had never had Prime Rib in my entire life.
• 8:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Some of you, you're chuckling to yourself already.
• 8:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought Prime Rib was just ribs, but better.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: And truthfully, now that I know, it's probably true.
• 9:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I thought it was just some super califragilistic, expiallidotious version.
• 9:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: of ribs, the ribs that I normally got, and this one for some reason told you in ounces how many, how much there was.
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I looked down and I saw the midpoint, 12, 16, 24, I said, Dad, could I have that 16 ounce prime rib and you realize the 16 ounce prime rib?
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: It was pushing the upper echelon of what he wanted to abide for me, but he had told me to pick what I wanted.
• 9:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's right, picked.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I did not say the 24 ounce.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so he said, all right, kind of begrudging he said, all right.
• 9:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so there I am sitting with anticipatory glee shoveling salad.
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Macaroni salad and potato salad.
• 9:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: And yes, some regular salad with generous helping of dressing.
• 9:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then they bring the food and they set down, probably I don't know what my brothers ordered, maybe some fried chicken or my dad probably got a steak, it was a good restaurant.
• 10:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then they set down something in front of me.
• 10:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I felt like everything had gone wrong.
• 10:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: You see, I was expecting a steaming slab of juicy succulent, very, very, I was, I was already thinking about the barbecue sauce.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: This is a nice restaurant, maybe they whole make the Bible, maybe they, maybe they, the sauce is homemade.
• 10:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then they sat down in front of me.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: The pinkest piece of meat I'd ever seen in my life.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now you realize now, I enjoy medium rare.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's all I really eat.
• 10:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: I prefer that.
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: I almost like it just a little bit on the blue side of medium rare.
• 10:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: But that day, it was hope deferred in my stomach was sick.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: you should have seen the look on my father's face.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: As I was disappointed by a, let's say, $27 piece of meat.
• 11:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: The eye's you was there, the horse radish was there.
• 11:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'll be honest with you today, if I had to pick any cut of meat, prime rib would probably be my favorite.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I put away childish things like ribs and prime rib, yes is where it's at.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was overlooking, and here's the thought for this week, you say, where's the Bible and all this?
• 11:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll get four days of Bible.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Let me tell the story today, alright?
• 11:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday, we will make application.
• 11:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: From the Bible and from this story.
• 11:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was looking past the best.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted something inferior.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: You would be hard pressed to convince me, even a well-smote slab of pork ribs can compete with the best prime rib, but I was disappointed by the best.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: My question for you is, has there ever been a time in your life and I'm speaking spiritually?
• 12:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: Has there ever been a time when you've been disappointed by the best and when I'm speaking about the best I'm talking about God's best, worse than being disappointed if you will, is choosing purposefully.
• 12:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Something else, choosing not to go with God's best.
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: because you know better.
• 12:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's our theme and that's our thought for this week.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: My name is Mike McCurray.
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: This has been Bible track decos and we will open up our Bibles, the remainder of this week.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you'd like to hear as they say, the rest of the story makes you tune in all this week.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: My prayer is always, is that you have a great day for his glory.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll plan on talking you soon.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: God bless.
• 13:12
  [UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
• 13:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org that's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks again for listening.
• 13:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for Him.