I stand in front of the mirror and lean in close. I pluck a stray from my eyebrows, pat down an unruly piece of my ponytail and wipe a lipstick smudge from the corner of my lip. I’m going to an event and somehow I believe that if I can make myself look just right then everyone will like me and I won’t be so afraid. We’ve talked about this before.
By the end of the night the light is too dim to see any strays on my eyebrows, my ponytail has long since gone wild and my lipstick has been transferred to the edge of my mug where it will make trouble for a dishwasher later. And know what? No one cares.
And I realize once again…
I can get so focused on being presentable.
And God is simply asking me to be present.
Yep, just show up. Be there. Dare to overcome the fear and reach out.
I do the same with my heart. Straighten up my worries. Tuck in my messes. Hide away my faults and failures. Or I simply don’t show up at all. I avoid the conversation, the step outside my comfort zone, the chasing-down-of-the-dream.
“I’ll wait until I have it more together,” I tell myself.
Here’s what I’m really saying: “I’ll wait until I believe I can do it perfectly because then it won’t be so scary.”
Sister, the day when we can do everything perfectly will come. There’s only one problem: we’ll be dead. Yep. If we’re gonna go for it in this life then being present always beats being perfect. God is not asking us to do anything flawlessly, just faithfully. He can make up for the rest.
So, yes, put your “best” forward but don’t let insisting on perfection hold you back. We need you to show up. Because there’s a part of who God is that only gets shared with the world through who you are.
In other words, your presence is a present.
And it’s enough.
Because Jesus is enough in you.
XOXO
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