One day I was going on and on about all the problems I was worrying about when my companion suddenly grabbed a small ball off a shelf and threw it to me.  Though surprised I caught it, and as I looked it over I realized it resembled a globe.  He said, “Why don’t you just put that on your shoulders?”  He was smiling and I got his point.  I was acting like I had the whole world on my shoulders, like I was the one who was in control of everything, and if I stopped – even long enough to sleep- something was going to get out of whack, I was going to miss something and the world would go terribly wrong. 

Years later I read these verses:

As a father has compassion on his children
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
For he knows how we are formed,
He remembers that we are dust.
Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV)
 
"We are Dust..."

I might not remember where I came from, but God does.  He easily remembers the day He formed Adam out of the dust of the ground and breathed His own life into his nostrils.  God is Creator.  He is the All-powerful One.  He is not expecting me to come through with the solutions to all the world's problems.  He is not disappointed I don't have everything under control; that is His job.  He has compassion on me as His created child.  He remembers what I always forget, that I am limited and the whole world is not on my shoulders, but in His powerful hands.
 
How to be dust:

Dust has to trust.

I need to trust that God is in control, even when it doesn’t seem like it.  Prayer seems to help the trusting.  Prayer that isn’t reminding God of what my plans are and asking Him to hurry up and solve things the way I think they should be solved, but prayer that is open-ended… Inviting God to come and do as He wills.  Prayer that acknowledges that God is All-powerful, All-knowing and fabulously good… that He knows and does best.  And then I have to discipline myself not to worry and fret my dusty self over that which I have left in God’s all-powerful hands. 

 
This article is part of the Life Lessons Series
Copyright 2010 Jeri Howe
Use only with permission
jeri@jerihowe.com

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I was in the middle of a relationship break up.  It was messy and confusing and painful.  I had tried so hard to be a good friend, but the other person thought I had failed them.  I felt angry; maybe I had made mistakes, but weren’t my good intentions enough?  Why did I have to be perfect in order to have friends?  In the midst of my bitterness and confusion I turned my thoughts to my Lord.

A soothing, peaceful, and life-giving thought came to mind:
It is better to be loved than to be perfect.

God did not require me to be perfect. 

This frustration that I felt, that my imperfection was separating me from my earthly companion, melted as I turned my heart towards God.  I was no longer separated from Him by my inability to be perfect.  Jesus had made a way.

It is better to be loved than to be perfect.

I have always been a mess.  I never have “gotten my stuff together.”  So when I came to follow Christ, I was received only on the basis of God’s love for me, not because I had met some minimal requirements of goodness or perfection.   The Bible teaches that God loved me when I was a sinner- when I was God’s enemy- and that Jesus gave Himself up for me and died on the cross… well, that means our relationship is not based on some assumption that I am somehow going to always do the right thing.  God knows me better than I know myself…  He brought me into His Kingdom based on love.  A powerful, holy kind of love that is long-lasting, strong… unfailing.

God loves because He is God and the source of love.  He has chosen to love me and you, and He will not stop loving us because His love depends on Him and not what we do.  He is so much bigger than us or what we do.  Heaven and Earth can pass away and God will still be loving us.  The sun may cease to shine and God will still be loving us.  You can fail, and God will still be loving you.

It is better to be loved than to be perfect.

How to "be loved” instead of striving to be perfect?

For some of us this very difficult.  Usually a really good failure once in a while will remind me that I am not perfect, though I would like to be; and that brings me back to the foot of the cross and I remember that God’s unconditional and undeserved love – His mercy- is the basis of our relationship… not my great and impressive deeds.

And man, I want to do great and impressive things!

I want to pay God back for saving me.  I don’t want to owe Him anything. 
I want Him to realize it was a good idea to save me – to somehow make it “worth His while”….
I want to not be so needy, to have some control…

But the only way to God is through Jesus… admitting we were wrong, that we were helpless, that we were “imperfect…” and to accept this gift of love. No one has ever been found righteous by being “perfect,” but only on the basis of accepting the gift of Christ. (Galatians 2:16, Romans 3:20)

The most wonderful part is, once we accept that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ… we are safe!  Our relationship with God is secure because it depends on His love and faithfulness, not our own!  He will not let go of us, because He is both willing and able to keep us from falling.  (Jude 1)

It is better to be loved than to be perfect.

My ego may want to be perfect and impressive, but my mind knows that I will fail again as I have in the past, and my heart is secure knowing it is far better to be loved than to be perfect.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: 
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (NIV)


This article is part of the Life Lessons Series
Copyright 2010 Jeri Howe

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I love stones.  I always have.  I love when they are smooth and warm and fit right into the palm of your hand.  Recently, while we were up in northern Michigan, we hiked over a mile to a remote beach to go swimming.  It was beautiful and we started collecting fabulous stones from in the water.  My kids each created huge piles and we had a fantastic time. 

When it was time to leave, my son put dozens of rocks into a blanket, wrapped them up and started carrying them home.  As he was coming down the second dune, the blanket fell and stones flew all over.  We helped him pick them up and started again.  As we continued to hike the mile back to the car, he fell behind and as I looked for him I saw that he had left most of stones in the sand and was carrying just two large stones, one in each hand.  By the time we got back to the car, he only had one large stone left from the dozens he had started with.  It had just been too much for him to carry all those stones all that way. 

As I reflected on this, I felt like God showed me how this was a picture of how I have been living lately.  I have been feeling overwhelmed by the many “stones” I feel responsible for in my life.  There are just too many, and I feel like I can not carry them all.   I felt like He was telling me it was time to drop some stones.

 

HOW TO DROP SOME STONES

I took some time and wrote down each “stone,” or responsibility that I felt like I was carrying, on a note card.  Then I prayerfully asked the Lord to show me my responsibility in that area and what was out of my control and therefore His responsibility.  Next, I chose to trust Him with the “stone” and I laid the card down and prayed.  I had about 20 cards all laying there when I was done… and my heart was lighter. 

After “laying down my stones” I realized that I had once again gotten it all wrong and was putting myself in God’s place.  I had come to feel like I had infinite responsibility for all these things in my life, but really, most of the time my responsibility boils down to:

·         Trusting God (Who is the All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Holy and Faithful One!)
·         Praying Always
·         Obeying and doing what he shows me is my part – which is usually a pretty “natural” and doable thing!

 

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7-8 NIV

Copyright 2010
Use Only With Permission
jeri@jerihowe.com