Are you settling for less than what God has for you? Do you even know if that is true in your life? How does one know if they are settling for less if they are not certain about what they have been created to do? I would say if you cannot answer the question of whether or not you are settling for less with an emphatic ‘No!’, then you probably are. People living out their God-given mission know because they are so in tune with God there can be no doubt.
For the rest of us, we either suspect we are settling for less or we know for a fact we are. So, we have a two-fold problem: first, how do we know if we are settling for less, and second, what do we do about it if we are?
The first clue in determining if we are settling for less is to ask yourself if you are doing anything which scares you. If we are fulfilling our purpose, we are going to be uncomfortable (Luke 9:57-62). We’re going to be pushing against boundaries we never imagined we could overcome. A God-sized dream will always exceed what we are able to accomplish on our own. This is the reason I am so sensitive to mediocrity. I think it’s the worst state in which one could find themselves and is a proof we are not living within God’s will. Jesus said he would spit out the mediocre (Revelation 3:15-16). That’s not a position in which I want to find myself!
Another way to know if you are settling for less than what God has in mind for you is if you are comfortable in life. Jesus promised we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). If we aren’t facing opposition it means Satan has no interest in us. If Satan isn’t interested in you, it’s because you are already his or he does not deem you to be a threat. Again, this is not a place in which I want to find myself. I want to be a threat to Satan. In fact, I want to be a serious problem for him, a constant thorn in his demonic flesh.
If you aren’t doing anything which scares you, what could you undertake to put a little holy fear in your life? What Kingdom-building project could you begin to do knowing there’s no way you can complete it unless Jesus intervenes? If you are comfortable, what can you do to put some discomfort into your life? Could you give away more money than that with which you are comfortable? Could you volunteer some time at a homeless shelter or mentoring someone who is not as privileged as you?
If we’re settling for less it’s because we either don’t have the will to surrender our lives to Jesus or we lack the faith to follow through on our commitment. We can be sincere in committing our lives to Him but quickly waver when we see the cost. And it’s the cost that will determine if we will sell out or continue settling for less than what we could be in Him. He has given us everything we need to become more than we could ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20). But we must decide how we will live our lives. We must choose to embrace the more in Jesus or continue settling for less.