Your Story Doesn't Have to Be Perfect
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ.
I had to sit with God, after encountering one of the most difficult days of my life. I kept saying, “ I can't believe this is a part of my story.” I had received some heartbreaking news and automatically my brain attempted to figure out how I could have prevented the situation from happening. I combed through my memories looking for moments I could have changed course and then it hit me. Even if I could have prevented the worst-case scenario there is no way things would have been perfect. Life is a culmination of experiences where we learn and grow. As I grieved, I had to face the fact that a new and better version of myself was emerging through my difficult time. Sometimes we must accept, that dirt really can help us grow. God as our divine gardener is never turned off by our mess (the mess we make or the mess someone else throws us into) He uses it as fertilizer for our future. This is why the Bible says he works everything for the good of those who love him. There is nothing too dirty for God. When our life story at times includes, sickness, sudden loss of a loved one, betrayals, ending of friendships, job loss or any other harsh experience we can find comfort in knowing God is not surprised by how messy life can be. Look at David, Paul, or Moses. These Bible greats encountered moments where they failed, or life failed them. Ultimately, their story shows us how gracious and redeeming God is. Yes, they received consequences many times for their good and bad choices, but we see that in God’s divine set up he orchestrates a future that is filled with hope amid human chaos.
Your story doesn't have to be perfect.
I had to ask myself, "Where did I get this fixation with perfection?" It was uncomfortable to accept that church culture can promote harmful obsessions with appearing flawless. I realized that constantly being told to be an example can sometimes cause us to desire our lives to always look a certain way. Furthermore, when we are taught much of our lives that our relationship with God is transactional many longtime Christians can struggle with arrogantly thinking that our actions cause God to bless us or treat us a certain way. This can lead to an obsession with perfectionism to get things from God. In reality, we receive everything we have because of God's grace. It is only through Jesus we can please God. Our actions show God how much we love him but we are not made holy or blessed by making all the right choices. We are made holy and are qualified through Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. When we understand this truly and deeply we can rest in knowing the goal was never perfection it is remaining submitted to God and surrendered to Holy Spirit. When that is our posture we can truly rest in God and his ability to see our best life experienced with him despite our shortcomings.
In my story, what I was going through felt so unfair but I could also see how the unraveling of the pretty picture I expected life to be was being rewoven into something better. I could see how at times when things feel broken down they are being built back better. As Christians, one of the greatest signs of our maturity is trusting God when we have no idea how he will heal, restore, recompense, or even defend us. The beauty is that we know God can and will. So when our stories have parts that cause us to feel shame or defeat just know no part of your story will be wasted and take your freedom! Your story doesn't have to be perfect. God is perfect and this is enough.
Love,
Gab