Not Waiting for Perfection

There is this beautiful teal wall near my house and every time I drive by it, I think about how I want to take pictures there. I have planned many photo shoots in my mind. I kept putting it off, even though I really wanted to do it. I was forcing myself to wait until I deemed the circumstances (and kid’s outfits) perfect. Then one day, I decided to just do it, to go take some pictures of the girls by the beloved teal wall. 

And the pictures turned out precious and darling. They are some of my favorites of the girls and they aren’t even wearing perfectly coordinated clothes! This got me to thinking about waiting and the reasons I wait. 

I usually am waiting until things are lined up just how I want them to be. I scramble around trying to make things perfect: my kids, my house, my schedule, my body. It’s exhausting trying to keep up because sometimes no matter how hard I try, things still fall apart or don’t happen how I want them to. My kids still fight and disobey me, there is still laundry, and I am still late to some event. 

Waiting is hard enough as it, {as I mentioned here} that we don’t need to add more waiting into our lives. The bible says in Isaiah 40:31, 

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

When we are waiting on God, he gives us strength to endure, to become the people He created us to be, to do the things He has called us to do. BUT, when we wait on ourselves, on trying to be perfect and in control, we get weak and exhausted. Have you ever felt that? When I wait for everything to be perfect, most of the time I am mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically exhausted. I can’t keep up, I can’t control everything. Now, that I have realized that I am weak and that I have limitations, I am able to tap into God’s strength to act on what he has placed in my heart even though it might not be my plan or in my timing. 

What are you waiting for? Go do that thing that he has called you to do, that you can’t stop thinking about. Don’t wait until you think everything is perfect to act. Do it in spite of the imperfections and it just might turn out better than you imagined. 

What’s keeping you from pursuing those things in your heart?