When good enough really is enough
Right now, I wish you were here sitting in my living room (on that awesome brown couch with your phone plugged in to charge) so I could look you in the eye and tell you this: Sometimes good enough really is enough!
We cannot be the best at everything all the time. Nor can we give our best all the time to the situations, activities and even relationships we’re involved in – not because we don’t want to but because it simply isn’t possible.
I’m guessing you already know that, even if you don’t like admitting it. But here’s the part where we all take a big deep breath of relief. Some things don’t really need our best, they just need to be done.
And all the stressed out, Type A among us said, “Amen.”
Or maybe you just looked at me and said, “Yeah right.”
I know all about that because I lean toward the perfectionist, Type A and possibly a little compulsive type. People like me (and maybe you?) don’t have a low gear, and we feel like if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing perfectly.
For example, I walk into my kitchen and think, “I don’t have time to really scrub the kitchen, so I’ll wait until I have time to get it deep cleaned.” But really, all that needs to be done is the dishes.
Paul knew this very real struggle with wanting to do it all and do it all perfectly. And just like Paul, we will have to learn a hard lesson about ourselves: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
This is the part of our conversation where I’d lean over, take your hand, look you straight in the eyes and say, “We can’t do it all, and we definitely can’t do it all perfectly all the time. It’s impossible.” You’d look at me with an unconvinced smile, and I’d continue by telling you this is good news.
Just like Paul, it is in all the stuff we struggle with, all the times we feel inadequate and all the moments when we know we are not enough, Jesus stands there waiting for us to lean into Him and allow Him to work through and in us.
