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Therefore, I will laugh about my failures because it illustrates God’s power.
2 Corinthians 12:10 (OGV)
I often deal with inadequacy and failure. A large percentage of my daydreaming is not about victory, great deeds, or dreaming of future success. It often gets sucked into frustration.
I am a perfectionist. I set myself up for failure. I don’t measure up to my own expectations. After sermons, when someone comes up to me and tells me it was a great sermon, I think, “I wonder what they want?”
Perfectionism leads to cynicism.
After wallowing in the valley of perfectionism for a while, I pull others into the slop. If I can’t measure up to my personal expectations, then neither can you.
This is crazy.
Most of my fears have to do with a soon expectation of failure, either with myself or with you. I just know that I will blow a sermon, say something inadequate, or you won’t give enough tithes to pay the church bills, or where are you on Sunday morning right now?
Enter God’s grace. Grace does not fail when I fail. It increases. Grace doesn’t dim when you, the church that I pastor, or followers of Jesus fail. It increases.
Failure increases God’s grace.
Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “This is why, because of the grace of Jesus, I can laugh or delight in my weakness.” (OGV)
About a year ago, I made peace with my perfectionism. There is an element of God’s created intention in my “always wanting to do things right.” But my flesh has distorted “doing the job perfectly” into frustration and anger at both myself and at you.
I’ve mentioned “you” a lot in this Interruption. Sorry! I can be thinking of something – how to make a sermon perfect – and walk right by you without saying hello. I can look at your hard-worked project and see the little bit of imperfection.
I pray that you will forgive me.
Taking the combined weight of my twisted perfectionism with resulting impossible expectations of both myself and you – well, I get weighted with depression.
Again, a year ago, I learned to realize it is not all bad. I should have impossible expectations as God is the God of the impossible. But I need to laugh at myself and at you!
It’s how I release God’s grace. When I don’t measure up, I laugh – and I laugh harder when you don’t measure up.
Let’s relax, let’s laugh, let’s dream, and when we fail, God’s grace and power are perfected. Go ahead and make a mistake. I am already laughing at you. Laughter makes it okay to try and fail. It is better to try and fail, than not try at all.
Laughing, along with grace, is perfected in weakness.
LOL!