So, I did a thing this past month…
I had the opportunity to make a video/ give a message to my grandmom’s church’s youth group girls in Virginia.
Y’all, the amount of pressure I put on myself for this video was downright embarrassing.
My mom taught me that if I’m going to do anything, I ought to do it well. I stand behind this notion and still wholeheartedly agree with my mom.
But, have you ever wanted something to turn out so perfect that you end up procrastinating and/or just not doing the thing altogether?
5 Stages
The stages of me creating this video looked something like this…
Stage 1: Getting Asked… At this point, I was pumped! The excitement and eagerness to get started kept me up at night.
Stage 2: Preparation …What will I wear? What will I say? How am I going to film the video? Gosh darn, I was going to do this video perfectly! Remember the scene from the movie “Grinch”, where he wrestles with if he should show up to the Jubilee? Yeah, that was me…Insert me picking out the perfect outfit, the perfect location, and doing my makeup to a T.
Stage 3: Reality Check…After sitting in front of the camera fumbling for words, trying to be perfect, and coming up short. I was now at the point where the Grinch says, “That’s it I’m not going.”
Stage 4: Feeling Inspired…I had a God moment while I was at a doctor’s appointment and realized that I was being called to step out on the water and to speak boldly and fearlessly.
Stage 5: Peace…I made the video. I learned how to kind of/sort of edit the video. And, I posted it.
The Next Best Step
My video is nowhere near perfect. When I watch the video I see so many things that I wish I would’ve done differently.
BUT, that’s not why God nudged me to post the video.
He asked me to take the next best step. He didn’t ask me to become a public speaker, a YouTube sensation, or a professional video editor.
He asked me to post the video, flaws, and all.
Did you know that I bought this website domain a year and a half before I actually posted my first blog post? Did you know that I wrote dozens of blog posts that were supposed to be my first blog post and none of them were the ones I ended up using?
Pastor Bill Rose from Impact Church KC said this, “To the perfectionist whose joy is being depleted from never measuring up…it doesn’t mean you’re a failure…it doesn’t mean you’re unlovable…it means you’re human. Humans aren’t perfect.”
Perseverance, Not Perfection
God, doesn’t ask us to finish the race, He asks us to run the race. You can’t run the race unless you take the first step.
Before Peter could walk on the water he had to step out of the boat.
Perfection: “excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement” -Dictionary.com
Perseverance: “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” -Dictionary.com
Friends, we aren’t called to perfection. We are called to perseverance.
The only one who can claim perfection is Jesus Christ and so we run towards perfection Himself.
We will have difficulties and we will stumble, but perseverance is taking the next best step.
For Peter, it meant stepping out of the boat and onto the water.
For me, it meant posting the video, flaws, and all.
What is your next step of perseverance?
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Hebrews 12:1-3
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