Allow the Present to be Imperfect

“Allow the present to be imperfect.”

These words from Emily Freeman’s podcast that have challenged me for months. 

What could it mean if I took them to heart? 

Well, first, let me think on the opposite. Can I disallow the imperfections? Can I ban the inconveniences, force the house to be clean, insist the children cooperate? Oh friends, I have tried to do all of these things, sometimes all at once. 

I know how this story ends: I will chase the end of the to-do list, and I will end up in tears and frustrated.  I will manage and demand things of my children, but it will not be enough, and I will be disappointed, and they will know it. And what will they make of that? How will mom’s perpetual disappointment be filtered through their child-brains and into their hearts?

These words challenge me, invite me to try something new:

“In resting, we pull away from doing although all is not done. We allow the present to be imperfect.” Sally Breedlove

Why would we even do this? Why “pull away from doing” when there are still things to be done?

This is impossible, for a type A like me, unless…

Unless my “doing” is not the most important thing;

unless I am truly NOT the glue that holds the world together;

unless being perfectly productive is missing the point;

unless my God invites me to rest in Him, not as a reward for conquering the checklist, but as a gift of grace.

I am not really in charge here, people. 

I cannot accept this, not really, unless I trust the One who is. 

By His grace, we learn to live in this tension.  We can fight imperfection, and yet not fully win the battle even in our own hearts. We can be discontent with evil, and yet wait on the Victor to complete His victory.  We can work while it is day, and yet rest in Him at night, trusting all the loose ends to His care. 

Jesus, help us both work diligently, and rest deeply, as we wait for you to make all things new.

Amen.

Food for thought:

“Life in this world is neither heaven nor hell; it is a fluctuating mix of the two. The separation of good from evil is an eschatological hope. Since we have a penchant for absolutes in terms of blacks and whites, we are ill-fitted for our complicated existence in the grays. Perfection is an anticipation associated with “waiting upon the Lord.” Our offense at postponing perfection is another example of our resistance to dependency. In spite of this resistance, our tension over the unfulfilled remains. The basis for godly contentment is not a simple acceptance of imperfection. This could be indifference or even cynicism. Godly contentment is based upon an acceptance of imperfection that is united with a vision of the perfect. This vision provides challenge as well as hope. . . 

“Is the only alternative to perfection a complacency with imperfection? Or is this alternative the false deduction from a point of view that is dependent upon the human need for completion? The middle term between perfection and imperfection for the Christian is gratitude. In a sense the Christian is becoming what he already is. The Christian life is a matter of desiring completion without having to have it. It is a matter of striving for something which we have already attained by faith, but which we have yet to work out by sight. It is a mark of growth to learn to live with imperfection without being satisfied with it - to be content with Christ’s righteousness without ceasing to strive for our own.”

-William E. Hulme, The Dynamics of Sanctification

Recommended Podcast:

https://emilypfreeman.com/next-right-thing-podcast/