One of our friends told us about an event she had just attended. The speaker got up, and on the stage with him were several framed pictures of beautiful, happy families. All different kinds of “perfect looking” families. He said this is what most of us are striving for, a perfect family, the problem is those are STOCK family photos. We don’t know the people in those frames, we don’t know their stories. We don’t know what they’ve been through, we don’t even know if they’re a real family.
We spend so much time trying to be perfect. Perfect mothers, wives, daughter, fathers, husbands, sons, friends and cousins. Whatever the title, most times we’re trying to perfect it. Which is what we should do. But if what you’re aiming for is a “nothing ever goes wrong” kind of perfection, I don’t believe that’s a realistic goal or desire.
I believe that all any of us can be is the best of who we already are.
So back to my friend and her event. The speaker went on the talk about bible families and how we couldn’t find one perfect bible family, no matter how hard we tried. And he said God didn’t WANT perfect families; he wants redeemable families — redeem means to get something back, He’s in the restoration business!! When I heard that! OMG, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.
I started thinking of stories and movies that we love. They’re filled with broken people who have overcome, beat the villain and fought through seemingly insurmountable circumstances to get to victory. Yet most of us are devastated when life throws us a curve ball. Wouldn’t it kinda suck if NOTHING ever happened? I mean a robotic kinda of perfection — no differences between us, everybody happy ALL the time, no battles, no struggles. We’d never know the joy of victory. We’d never understand the power of persistence. And God wouldn’t need to be God, if we have it all together.
God wants us to want Him, He doesn’t want trials and life issues to tear us to pieces. He wants to walk us through the dark, so we smile at the light and enjoy the sunshine. He wants to be with us IN the storm, so when it’s over and peaceful waters are flowing through our lives, it means so much more to us.
We don’t gain strength or know what we’re capable of if we have perfect lives. We won’t enjoy victory if we never run the race and never have to fight to cross the finish line. Perfect doesn’t mean no divorce or heartbreak or death or loss of a friendship or no troubled teens, sick kids or weight struggle or no business failure, no shut doors, or dream delays. All that stuff makes us stronger, better, smarter. It makes us sharp and lets us know life can’t take us down.
I may not have perfection all around me. Maybe it’s time to redefine normal! I’ll be perfectly perfect, fighting MY fight, living MY life, with MY family, going through my trials, and when I fall, I’ll get back up. I have some perfect scars that have made me who I am. They remind me of where I’ve been and what I CAME through. Define perfect for yourself; don’t try and meet other people’s standards. Don’t look at and wish for someone else’s life.
To quote the late great Bishop Walter Hawkins, “A little rain mixed with God’s sunshine, a little pain makes us appreciate the good times.” — Walter Hawkins, Be Grateful, 1975
“There’s no such thing as perfect people, there’s no such thing as a perfect life, so come as you are, broken and scared, lift up your heart and be amazed and be changed by a perfect God.” — Natalie Grant, Perfect People
That’s about it. Love ya much!
Mary Mary