A man I know, (now in glory), is reported to have said to disappointed customers, “Well, it’s good enough for who it’s for.” I chuckle when I say that out loud. I’m sure a few people on the receiving end of that line didn’t think it was as funny as I do. Some people are really hard to please. It’s not that we have to settle for shoddy work, but idealism is the ditch on the other side of the road and an unhealthy idealism can creep into everything from home repair to marriage. We should be careful. Idealism and idolatry are very closely aligned. When we demand the realization of our ideals as a source or means of happiness, we have made our ideals an idol. Longing for ideals is not necessarily wrong, it’s likely a sign that we were made for a perfect world! The truth is, things have been less-than-ideal since Adam and Eve left the Garden. According to Paul in Romans 8, the whole world is groaning under the less-than-ideal situation that we find ourselves in. What are we to do? Give up? Samuel is one Old Testament character whose life provides an example. If we let him, he will mentor us through the disappointment and rejection we experience, to a life of faithfulness before God. Even when things are less than ideal.