What does a marketing strategy of good, better, best have to do with living a victorious life?  It still amazes me that God uses the most mundane everyday things, such as tires, to inspire and encourage me.

Excited to go home, I turned on my Bluetooth hands-free device, put the key in the ignition and proceeded out of the parking garage.  This was the end of a 48 hour work week for me.  The sky was gray and the road was wet.  I worked third shift so rush hour traffic was headed in the opposite direction.  “I’d be home in no time,” so I thought.  The traffic signal turned green and I was on my way.

The excitement quickly waned as my truck uncontrollably slid across the road.  I was making a lane change when I glided into oncoming rush hour traffic.  I turned my steering wheel in the other direction and drifted towards the curb.  I corrected again and slid past the car in front of me.  I felt like one of those silver balls in a pinball machine.

Thank God I didn’t hit someone and no one hit me. My breathing returned to normal and that sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach went away.  I thought to myself “tires, I need new tires!”  The tires on my 2008 Tacoma were original.  They had almost 96,000 miles on them.  The last time my tires were checked the tread depth was in the yellow zone.  You know, that green, yellow, red system of determining tread wear.  I still had plenty of tread left.  Yellow or not, today is the day for new tires.

I called several tire places and decided on Discount Tires.  Don’t know why I bothered to call around.  I always end up at Discount Tires.  I sheepishly drove to the tire store.  Alex, the “tire guy” I spoke with on the phone, was waiting for me.  We had already discussed replacing all four tires with the least expensive tire for my truck.  I planned to get the same tires, the ones that lasted all these years, the ones that were presently on my truck.  The tire guy greeted me, then went to check my tires.  He came back amazed.  My tires still had decent tread (not in the red zone) after so many miles of wear.  He commented on my tire maintenance then began the “education” on the various tires available for my truck.

I first approached this as the expected up sell.  You know, the conversation to convince you to buy more than you need, for more than you intended to spend.  OK, here comes the Good, Better, Best marketing strategy.  My skepticism caused me to ask very direct questions with side-by-side dollar amounts for each tire he presented.  Then came the true education.  He began to show me the different types of tires, their characteristics and purpose.  To my surprise, my truck didn’t have the least expensive tire.  I had a “Better” all terrain tire.

After all was said and done, I did end up buying the “Best” highway tire.  The reduced road noise sold me.  The price wasn’t much more than the replacement tires I intended to buy, if you included the rebates and discount.  OK, maybe the marketing strategy worked, but I left happy.

Through this entire process the thing that spoke to me most was eight years of road noise, now gone.  I drove out of that place with almost no road noise.  Eight years ago I downsized to a Tacoma from a Tundra.  My boys were grown and I didn’t need such a large truck anymore.  The one thing that irritated me about my Tacoma was the road noise.  The Tundra’s cabin was silent, like driving a luxury car.  I attributed the road noise of the Tacoma to the downgrade.

I endured eight years of road noise.  If someone asked me about the Tacoma, I’d say I liked it but for the road noise.  Eight years of turning the volume up on the radio to drown out the road noise.  Several years of increasing the volume of my Bluetooth to maximum so I could hear conversations.  I endured eight years of less than best because of a deficit in my knowledge base.  Who knew?

Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful and appreciative to God for His hand of protection, as I spun out of control on the roadway.  But I’ve come to expect that from Him.  He has demonstrated this to me multiple times throughout the years.

But this road noise issue opened my eyes to another key to living a victorious life.  My truck tires were “Better” tires that lasted longer than expected.  I attribute this to God’s handiwork.  However they weren’t the “Best” tires for me and my needs.

There are times in our lives that we have good things and are in a good place.  We do a comparative analysis and decide that good and better is OK.  Life is good.  My circumstances are better than someone else’s.  We become content and complacent with mediocracy.  God loves me and desires the best for me and from me.  I need to discover His best for my life by consistent study of His word and applying its principles to my everyday life.

I challenge you to discover God’s best.  Don’t settle for good enough.  Seek Him and ask for wisdom to guide you to His best.  Jesus’ sacrifice gave us access to the greatest power of all.  Let’s not squander the opportunity for greatness.