Feb 23 - "The Imperfect"

1 Corinthians 1:20-31
"Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God."
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Are you good enough for God?

I am amazed every day by all the things Greta (my wife) gets done on a daily and weekly basis for our family. Not only does she manage the logistics of activities for our three girls, make sure we have good food to eat, pays the bills and keeps the house clean, but she also teaches a Spinning class or Yoga 4-5 days each week. How does she do it all?

There are weeks when I look at my workload or travel schedule, my training plan as well as any other personal and family responsibilities I have and wonder how I am going to be able to get it all done. How will I fit it in?

The only way Greta or I are able to accomplish all that is set before us each week is because we make a great team. There are times when both of us need the other in order to get through the week because, if tackled alone, something will get missed. I am especially conscious of this when Greta takes one of her trips each year, visiting her sisters or learning new yoga and spin techniques. When left by myself to take care of all the things two of us would normally try and do, I always fall short; laundry stacks up...meetings get missed...a training run gets blown off...we make a last-minute trip to McDonald's for dinner.

Both of us, in our imperfection, when combined with the other, brings a perfection, of sorts. I certainly don't mean to imply that we do no wrong...believe me, mistakes are made on a daily basis since we are both figuring out how to raise a teenage daughter (who is 14 today...Happy Birthday to Maddy!!!) and not mess up the other two girls too. But, in our combined efforts, with a foundation that places God as the 3rd leg of our stool (is it sac religious to refer to God as the leg of a stool?!?), we do something greater than either of us could do alone.

We are imperfect: Greta, me, you...all of us. Therefore, do we just give it up? No. We need a partner to make us complete. An advocate who can take our imperfections and make good use of them.

Just over two years ago, I was at a funeral. We were celebrating the life of a man who, although great in many ways, had imperfections too. The pastor giving the sermon during the funeral service said something that day which struck me to my core; it has resounded in my daily life ever since hearing it. He said this: "God uses imperfect people to accomplish his perfect plan." What a concept!!

Look at all of the stories in the Bible. Were all of the people God chose to be a part of His plan perfect? Far from it! Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit...Moses initially rejected God's call to be the leader of the Israelites; David sent a man to his death so he could possess this man's wife; Paul persecuted the early Christians before he himself turned to Christ. The list goes on and on.

All of us, with faults and foibles aplenty, play a role in the plan God has set out for the world. We should allow Him to use us as a part of His plan. Never think we cannot play some role in the greater good, even if we see ourselves as less than good, at times.

So, brothers and sisters, you are imperfect, but YES...you are good enough for God. He is strong where we are weak...He is wise where we are foolish...He completes what is incomplete. When we are in communion with Him, our imperfections are smoothed to perfection.