Column Post by Lakin Easterling
There’s an ongoing frustration I have with people: our propensity to always dwell on what we should be, or what we think we should be, rather than what we are.
I’m not talking about striving to be the best we can be. I’m not talking about giving something one hundred percent. I’m not talking about chasing a life-long dream.
I am talking about the perception of those things. What are we really motivated by? Why desire one thing over another?
I’m talking about sacrificing family for the sake of a promotion at work; working out 2 hours every day and eating nothing but leafy greens so you end up looking like that girl or that girl or that girl instead of you; I’m talking about upholding religious values without seeking out why you value them, and using them as a pummel to knock down doors of “obvious” ignorance and sin to make yourself feel like a good person.
It’s so easy to get off track, to lose sight of why we do something, love something, someone, in favor of just doing the easy, virtuous, couch-potato ministry we are comfortable in.
What if we just accepted the fact that we are a crippled people, crippled by our broken hearts, crippled by harsh words, crippled by pious actions, crippled by each other and ourselves?
What would it look like if we chose to live as we are? What if we let grace and beauty fill in the gaps and straighten the soul-twists and reassure the confused moments, carrying us as far as we need to go in order to be face-to-face with Healing Himself, lowering us to the place of humbly asking for His strength to perfect our weakness?
We don’t need to be whole to be effective. We don’t have to have all the answers; we don’t have to know the outcome. We trust in what we cannot see; we trust our questions will have answers, we trust a Strength greater than our weakness to complete what our Creator has started.
What if we let faith lead us and grace support us, instead of trying to do it ourselves?
“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, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ~1 Corinthians 1:27-31
We can’t do it ourselves, friends. There is no shame in this, only the glory of knowing we are a part of an epic story, and our crippled legs will be inked in swift and strong.
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P.S. We’d love to know your thoughts, so please be sure to comment below. Each of our commenters will be entered in a drawing for our current FREE book giveaway, Mothers & Daughters: Mending a Strained Relationship by author Teena Stewart.
Lakin Easterling is a wife, mother, writer, and avid reader. She spends her days chasing her toddler, Belle, and conversing with the elderly who are afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. She loves surprise coffee dates with her husband Luke, texting novels to her best friend, Laura Hyers, and being a college student. She dreams about being brave enough to get a tattoo, and believes in the healing power of a good cup of coffee. Her favorite nail polish is Sail Away by Milani. She blogs at http://threadingsymphonies.wordpress.com.
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