What Are You Aiming For?

One of my favorite Christmas movies is Elf. The movie where Will Farrell thinks he’s an elf and has to find his dad and save Christmas. I love his reaction to seeing New York City for the first time. His sense of wonder is similar to the first time I saw the city as well. At one point he sees a sign in a window that says “World’s Best Coffee.” He runs into the restaurant and proclaims, “Congratulations! You did it! World’s Best Coffee!”

One of the last trips I went on before the pandemic was to Austin, Texas. I stayed next to a coffee shop that had the sign pictured here, “The Best Coffee in Town.” While I didn’t try to verify, it was really good coffee and it did have a steady stream of customers while I was around.

We can’t all be “the best.” But we can do our best. In a world where there is pressure for perfection, doing our best doesn’t feel like its enough. It feels like we are missing the mark. It feels like failure.

What if we have the wrong markers? What if what we are aiming for isn’t what God wants us to aim for? The distance between where we aim and where we land is where God’s grace can transform our lives. When that happens our markers are reset. Now instead of aiming for “the best” we aim for “God’s best for us.” Those markers get reset often in a world that is constantly changing. That can be frustrating but it also serves as a reminder that God’s not done with us yet.

Your purpose in life is to aim at God’s best for you. If you aim at someone else’s best, you’ll always fall short. If you aim at God’s best for you, His grace will get you there. It’s not always easy and it may take time but its worth to hear God say, “Congratulations! You did it! World’s best YOU.”