The Practical Best
Abraham Lincoln believed that virtually all choices were a mixture of good and bad (cf. Prov 16:2 and sin as ‘missing the mark’ of perfection. See Jas 2:10). Hence, we should make our best reasoned guess for a choice that would seem to maximize what is good and minimize what is harmful (Kennedy, Profiles in Courage, p 263). As Winston Churchill put it, “In war, as in life, it is often necessary, when some cherished scheme has failed, to take up the best alternative open, and if so, it is not folly to work for it with all your might.” However, “Do the best you can, without straining yourself too much and too continuously, and leave the rest to God. If you strain yourself too much you’ll have to ask God to patch you up. And for all you know, patching you up may take time that it was planned to use some other way” (Don Marquis).
Too often, we focus so exclusively on what is ideally best that we refuse to choose what is best on a practical level. We often have to choose between options which are poor or better but not ideal. Ideally, there would never be divorce. Yet, because we live in an evil age where there is much hardness of heart, sometimes the best choice is divorce (Mt 5:32; Mt 19:9, NIV; 1 Cor 7:15). It is not ideally best but is the best practical choice because it is better than the other options.
The best does not mean what is perfect in a mistake-free or 100% kind of way. We do our realistic best. We have so much time and energy, with other commitments and certain life priorities. All this must be factored in when we try to do our best for any particular activity. It is doing our best within appropriate boundaries so we are able to effectively do our best on other occasions and for other activities. A single co-worker once criticized me for not volunteering to do extra projects at work on my days off. I told him I wasn’t just an employee but was also a husband, father, and member of a Christian church (1 Thess 5:15, NJB).
Forgiveness is not for petty matters.