Perfect Love
Happy Friday everyone!
Back in the summer of 2016 or 2017 I went away to a church conference in Virginia Beach. It was a 3 or 4 day conference with plenty of time to lay on the beach and enjoy the water for hours. What more could you ask for lol?! While I was there a pastor I had never heard of spoke during one of the night services. His name is Ps. Chris Hodges. While he was speaking, he said this one line that has stuck with me for years. It penetrated my heart and felt like it awoke something in my soul. He said, ”In this life you can accomplish all God has for you. You don’t have to miss any of it.” I remember listening to him with the biggest smile on my face and being slightly stunned. It was like he was speaking directly to me in a room of at least 2,000 people. I sat there in awe, overwhelmed at the pleasant possibility that I could accomplish all God has for me in this life. I don’t have to miss a thing. It’s funny, I never thought that I struggled with fomo (fear of missing out). If anything, I am someone that gets what I like to call jomo (joy of missing out) LOL. It felt like in that moment the God of the universe was speaking directly to me and telling me I could accomplish all He has for me. I didn’t have to miss any of it and it made me excited about the future! However, as the years passed by and satan came with his lies, I started to feel fearful.
Now, I am someone that does not like the unknown. It stresses me out in a way that I cannot explain. I have gotten a lot better, praise God, but it has been a process.
For the last year I have been stepping out into a lot of unknowns, especially in my personal life. I’ve taken leaps of faith and have landed well, thank God. However, I noticed that even when taking leaps of faith, I still have fear. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out where the fear was coming from or why it was there. Recently, I was talking to a friend and telling them about some fears that have been creeping up and can sometimes feel suffocating. As we talked through them, she said to me, “Vanessa, the greatest desire of your heart is to live in God’s perfect will for your life. You don’t want to miss anything. But, you’re so afraid that you’ll mess up, make a wrong decision or be out of His will that you let fear keep you from making any decisions and suffocate yourself. Your heart’s desire is beautiful but don’t get stuck fearing that your life will be doomed if you’re not perfect.” I sat there in awe that she understood my heart as a friend and I cried. If you can’t tell by now I am a crier lol.
1 John 4:18 says,” There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Before the end of 2022, I remember reading that Bible verse and hearing the Holy Spirit tell me that 2023 was going to be a year that He showed me how much He loves me so that those fears wouldn’t get in my way anymore. I never thought I was someone that struggled with perfectionism and truth be told I still don’t think so, however, I do think I have believed the following lie, “that everything in my life has to be somewhat “perfect” for me to live in the fullness of what He has for me. If not then I’m doomed. I’ll miss everything He has for my life and will suffer.”
Guys, I know that sounds so dramatic but let me tell you, a lie can make you spiral into some crazy thoughts, behaviors and beliefs. We will never ever be perfect, at least not in this broken, fallen world but we do have a perfect Savior! He is daily refining us and asking us to trust Him as He refines us. He tells us in His Word to trust Him, have faith in Him and follow Him. Following isn’t always easy, but I will say this, trusting Jesus is worth it. There’s hope with Jesus. There’s peace with Him and there’s certainty in Him even if everything else looks uncertain. He is consistent.
If you’re reading this and don’t know or believe in Jesus, that’s okay. Welcome to On Fridays, We Clean and know that the God of the universe is absolutely besotted with you. He loves you with a love that we’ll never truly understand because of our flawed understanding of love. He wants you to get to know Him and He’ll wait for you.
If you’re interested, let’s join together in praying against lies we have believed about having to be perfect to be loved and do everything right to have the perfect life. It’s not true and it’s an exhausting way to live. He’s perfect and will refine us. He won’t ever leave us.
We love you, Jesus and me.
Cleaning Tip - Use white vinegar in your rinse cycle. It softens your clothes and keeps your washer from foul smelling soap build-up.
