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1 Kings 22:43 "[Jehoshaphat] walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord; yet the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places."

 

Sometimes being "good enough" is not enough. The people of Judah were sacrificing to idols when Jehoshaphat became king. He was a good man, he walked in the way of the Lord, and he tried to reform his people, taking away many of their idolatrous places of worship (2 Chronicles 17:3-6), but he did not put a complete end to all the sacrifices in the high places, as we see in this verse. He also made an alliance with Ahab, the wicked king of Israel, in contradiction of the prophet Micah's advice (2 Chronicles 18).

 

The general remembrance of Jehoshaphat is that he was a good man, and one of the better kings of Judah. Yet we can see from his mistakes that he was still a bit too worried about the things of this world. He made an alliance with a man he knew to be of bad character, against the advice of a prophet that he had called in, a sign that he did not fully trust God. He ridded Judah of many places of idol worship, but not all, apparently not wanting to make too many waves with the more entrenched idolaters of his country.

 

When things are going wrong in a nation (or even the whole world), and we find ourselves surrounded by wickedness both inside and out, we need a leader who is not just "good enough" to turn things around. We need someone who is willing to make the very difficult calls, to stand up against evil despite the attacks that will come when he does. Jehoshaphat could have trusted God entirely, and stood up to both Ahab and all of the idolaters in Judah. He would have been a much better king had he done so, and Judah would have been much better off for it.

 

This doesn't just apply to leaders, we each individually can be better than "good enough" in our lives, and thus unlock all the grace God wants to give us. If we make the switch from "good enough" worship, to really knowing and trusting God in everything, and doing what we know what to be right even when it will cause us personal suffering, we will experience the difference between being truly good and being good enough. I think we will find it is all the difference in the world.