Forget Your Perfect Self

I hate perfect, probably because I am so full of imperfect.  Is anything in life perfect?  Is anyone perfect? 

On my best days I still miss “perfect” by a mile.  Can you relate? 

Is your life perfect?

Are you perfect? 

Perfect means – well put together, no room for mistakes, no room for improvement. 

Ah, that is an interesting thought – no room for improvement.

The search for perfect abounds. 

Products promise to make us perfect.

  Schooling promises to make us perfect.

    Seminars promise this.

      Training courses promise perfection to the hilt.

Perfect!

               Perfect!

                              Perfect!

This idea had to grow on me.  See what it does for you.

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in

~Leonard Cohen

Instead of being perfect and having all of the answers, I seem to be in constant search for more light.  I say – “Let the light get in.”

I've known a few “perfect” followers of God in my lifetime.  They made me sick.  If you want to know everything wrong with you, hang around someone like that for a day or two.  They will set you straight, believe you me. 

Today, a more liberal view works just fine.  The cry for some is this … “More light.  We need more light in here.”

Let the light shine in. 

Here is a scripture to consider.

2 Corinthians 12:9

Paul, a follower of Christ, prayed three times for a certain infliction (of unknown origin) to be removed from his life.  And the answer came back loud and clear.

“No, but I (God) will be with you.  That is all you need to know.  My power shows up best in weak people.”

Now there is a picture of an imperfect man.  He had a problem.  He prayed for its removal.  He was denied and told he was still useful anyway. 

There is amazing hope for those of us who are still imperfect. 

That is worth a shout out – to God. 

Some say ‘Hallelujah’.

Some say ‘Praise the Lord’.

Some, like me, just grin.  We just grin and smile, and inwardly we’re saying something like:  “This is amazing.  You love me, warts and all, and you say you’re going to use those warts, imperfect as they are?”

Amazing! 

Thank you Paul, for being vulnerable in the middle of your misery.  You give us great hope.

And look how the light shined through Paul’s life.  He is credited with being one of the great proclaimers of the faith and gospel of Jesus Christ.  Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament are credited to Paul as the author.  Talk about letting the light in through the cracks.  That is amazing.

On the days when you are feeling all cracked up, perhaps those are the days when God is letting the light really flow through you.  Just be okay with being imperfect enough that God finds us useful.

I do.

P Michael Biggs

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