Perfectionism's temptations are a tension. On the one hand, I want things just so. And to get things just so, I could allow myself to enter a cycle that is potentially endless:
A tweak here, a tuck there.
A spit and polish.
A stand back and evaluate.
A sigh and re-do.
On the other hand, I could choose to give up completely... Perfectionism is one exhausting bully!
Tonight, it was drafting this week's schedule (something I'm trying to be more diligent about). After several minutes of feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, I resigned to the fact that I was stuck.
I sat there in the mud for a few minutes, feeling defeated, when I suddenly noticed my husband's voice. He and his two best college buddies were chatting on a conference call, and--though I wasn't trying to eavesdrop-- their topic of conversation caught my attention.
"There's a scene in The Passion of the Christ," my husband said, "where Jesus looks at Mary and says 'Behold, I make all things new.' That is my favorite scene."
And there it was-- God's surprising reply to my perfectionism. Behold, I make all things new.
Behold...
Stop. Look.
I make...
In your perfectionist thinking, you overestimate your personal power. I am the one who makes, who supremely is.
all things...
I offer my love everywhere, to all people, through all things-- even stuck-in-the-mud situations and (gasp) imperfect schedules.
new.
I have My own definition of 'perfect'... and new is the very beginning.
His definition of perfect-- that's what I want to aim for. And the next time I find myself struggling, I will repeat the words that wilted today's perfectionism: "Behold, I make all things new."
