It’s not that it’s a beautiful process, but there is beauty in the process and there’s a difference.
Recently I’ve reflected on the theme of perfectionism again, which in full extremity can be debilitating and demobilising. It makes you feel like you can’t make a move until everything is perfect; until every possible risk to exist is mitigated and worse it demands the lie that we can be self-sufficient.
Let’s break those down:
1. Debilitated and demobilised - This is a state of feeling weak and to be taken out of action. I touched on this in a recent UnEarthing Post called ‘Past the shade’. It is a descriptive journey of how it looks and feels when we retreat into the hidden place of the shade and remain there for fear of exposure. It mentions the hardening of our shells which inevitably makes you feel, as mentioned above, that you can’t make a move (or come out again) until everything is perfect. Not true. Nothing which is not first uncovered can be healed, so applied here, we can only become better versions of ourselves that God desires when we come out of hiding and bring our mess before Him. God really gives beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3).
2. Not moving until every possible risk to exist is mitigated - Even reading that sentence I’m sure we all know it doesn’t make any sense in reality. It’s not even possible to know the outcome of every risk to mitigate them. The outcome of lot of risks actually depend upon external factors, such as how people respond and react to an offer we make for example and truly we can’t determine the script for everyone’s lives. But, we act contrary to this head knowledge we have and still act in ways that are illogical. Of course there is wisdom to be applied in knowing which risk to take and the Word of God tells us to ask for wisdom if we lack it and God will give it to us (James 1:5). The fact is that we have to take risks in some capacity in order to move, otherwise how would we ever know what works and what doesn’t. If not, we’re stuck in a place of stagnation and I’ve been there and it’s absolutely not fun at all.
3. Self-sufficiency - The belief that you can be capable of providing for all your needs yourself. This is also explored in a section in an UnEarthing Post called ‘Fractured now Complete’. The extremity of perfection can cause isolation. In one sense there is the belief we have to strive to make things work ourselves and therefore become a soloist who repels at the thought of asking for help. In another sense it breeds pride to even think that we can do everything ourselves. Pride has a twofold nature. Firstly, It can highlight where we think we’re untouchable and far surpass others and secondly it makes us focus so much on ourselves and our own limitations that can’t see past ourselves towards the Lord, the only one who perfects everything within its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). It is the Lord who ultimately makes our efforts successful (Psalm 90:17) and in Him we live, move and exist because we as the ‘Created’ are dependant on our ‘Creator’- God, who desires that we seek Him (Acts 17:27-28).
Having said all that, I’m in the mode of have a paradigm shift and moving towards becoming 'a student of the UnEarthing process'. I can’t expect to start out as perfect, but I can be committed to perceiving the beauty in the journey of discovery for UnEarthing Ltd.