Perfectly Imperfect

Awkward middle school years--gotta love 'em!

Today, my mom is one of my best friends, but believe it or not, we didn't always get along.  We have certainly had our moments...

Years ago, in an all out mother-daughter brawl with my mom back in middle school, I was completely distraught.  My mom, who meant so well, had completely messed up and betrayed my trust, getting one of my friends in trouble with her mother.  There’s nothing worse to a hormonal adolescent than the combination of a tattletale mom and your friend being mad at you.  Life, as I knew it, was over.  

We sat outside of school one afternoon in her white suburban with tears streaming down both of our cheeks and she said, “Elizabeth, I’m not perfect.  I’m so sorry, but I’m just not.  I want to be, but the truth is, God didn’t make me perfect, because if He did, than I would be so awesome and wonderful that you wouldn’t need God in your life.  So as hard as this is, you have to trust that sometimes the imperfections in other people are ways to draw you closer to a perfect God.” 

Oh, Mom…even when I completely loathed her, she always knew just what to say.  And though I really didn’t want to believer her and I was still fuming mad, deep, deep down, I knew she was right. 

By design, we are all perfectly imperfect.

This little nugget has gone with my pretty much everywhere--the same holds true with our husbands, our friends, our bosses--if people in our lives were perfect, than what use would we have for God?  We would be too busy worshipping everyone on earth, because we'd all be so awesome!

But God, in His infinite wisdom, made people who can support us, come alongside us, and walk with us, but never able to completely replace the love, abundance, satisfaction, and perfection that God can bring to our lives.    

One of my FAVORITE Psalms is Psalm 145:16, which says, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”  

Isn’t that imagery beautiful? I love the idea that God stands ready to open up His hand and perfectly satisfy our every desires. 

 

We women can look for security and fulfillment in all kinds of places—school, a job title, a swanky address, men, friends, or family, or a relational status, but no matter what, at some point, we end up being disappointed and feeling emptier than when we began.  As wonderful as those things can be and as much as they want to love us, eventually they let us down.

Thankfully, in the midst of our own imperfections and the imperfections of others, God's faithful love envelopes us and does not leave.  

He alone knows exactly what we need and when we need it.

Let's keep our eyes set on the Perfect One.  For He alone, is One who does not disappoint!

You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.