The Fish Tank

"God spent a long time making you and He doesn't make worthless things!" Funny how God works. The word perfection has been bouncing around my brain for the past two weeks. I've thought about what it means to be perfect, how much I long for perfection in my life, how perfection is really unattainable and not true to reality. I think our on-line world has enhanced the race towards perfection. We see everyone in a way that is not realistic or true to the everyday mess of our lives. When we do let the disaster show, it's a cute concocted picture of something hilarious or something that will garner positive attention. Today, I sat in our auditorium at church and listened to the sermon as it penetrated my soul. The subject: Comparison. Oh man. Wow. For me, perfection stems from two sources: my utter need and desire to have everything neat and tidy AND my quick ability to compare my life to others. Why do I think others' lives are perfect? I know the truth. I bel...

When God is about to work in my life in a mighty way, when He is about to do great things, I often find myself in the the midst of a massive clean out. Things are purged and taken away. Life is altered and shifted to make room for what He is about to do. In the midst of this clearing I can go from completely lost and confused to feeling relaxed and relieved. Most of the time I am unaware that He is working while being pushed, pried, and stretched beyond recognition until I look back on the battlefield in awe of all He has done. I like comfort, normalcy, and consistence. I believe my thorn in my side as Paul talked about in the new testament is change. It's the one thing that actually is, ironically, a constant in my life. Change draws me to my knees and His side. I just finished studying Gideon from the Old Testament. God stripped Him bare in order to use Him in a big way. So often God needs to strip us in order to use us. He needs to reveal our skeletons so that we are able to de...