Over spring break my two of my roommates and I took a road trip down to Southern California. One of our first stops was Pismo Beach, CA, a favorite spot on the central coast.
It was Jen's mission to find sand dollars--lots of sand dollars. As many as she could. So we woke up early the next morning in time to scope out the beach during low tide. The shore seemed to expand for miles the surf was out so far. Slightly overcast but still warm, it was a great day for shell hunting.
As we made our way down the steep stairs to the beach, I could not help myself from looking at the wood stairs beneath me, not only for the sake of concentration, but because it fascinated me as well, the way that the steps before me had been worn into divets and how the rail had been smoothed out by thousands of hands asking for its support. Those people too had been on missions.
Our feet finally hit sand and we kicked our sandals off, elated that the beach was so empty. Jen pulls out her baggie and diligently starts looking. Ashley and I are more enticed by the caves nearby and explore those for a while. But soon we were hunting along with Jen, turning over anything that looked slightly like a sand dollar with our toes. More often than not, we would dig our toes into the sand only to unearth a rock or a different shell.
At last I found one. I exclaimed with joy as I pulled it from the sand and shout to the others. As they come over to inspect it, their joy is not the same. "Its not a whole one," they say. "We only want ones that aren't broken."
Undeterred by this, I slip the half sand dollar into my pocket. I still think that it is pretty and that it will remind me always of our trip. But more importantly, it started me thinking about perfection.
Why is it something that we strive so hard to find, and yet are never able to attain it? Are we not imperfect beings? Will we not fail? Will we not sin? Will we ever be perfect?
I think that a lot of people put too much pressure on themselves to be perfect. The perfect student. The perfect daughter. The perfect employee. The perfect friend. The one who always looks perfect. These simply are masks we all wear. An acquaintance of mine says that perfection is a lofty goal. I think its a foolish one.
If we as humans are perfect in and of ourselves, we have no need for a perfect God (or any god at all). If there is no need for redemption, there is no need for a redeemer.
But I don't think that people are perfect. In fact, I know that people aren't and if they say they are they are lying. I think the problem is that we never admit to this.
How relieving it is to know that GOD is perfect. My grateful heart cannot help but to rejoice in the light of the knowledge that it doesn't matter if I am broken. It doesn't matter if the sand dollar is only half there. The one that created both it and I can redeem anything that I do to mess things up. God is bigger than my imperfection and has the ability to make all things new. For it is in Him that I am made perfect, through the continual redemption and forgiveness of Jesus. Praise the LORD for His unfailing love!
This God--His way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:30
My beautifully broken sand dollar.
1 comment:
Yes, I completely agree that we are not perfect as beings here on earth, though one day we WILL reach perfection with Christ (hallelujah!). However, our standard is still perfection, is it not? I think that's why we struggle with it so much. Look at Genesis 1&2. God created us PERFECT. Then Genesis 3 happens, and we are imperfect. Yes, God had a redemption plan. And yes, we are living that out today. But I think that we still strive to be perfect, even in our fallen state, because there is something inside of us that knows we were created to be perfect. How sweet it is for the believer, that we know we are to be perfect, yet understand that it takes something greater than ourselves to reach perfection. To God be the glory! Amen!
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