#Choosingextraordinary http://ow.ly/i/dgq0F
#choosingextraordinary http://ow.ly/i/dgpMc
‘…Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’ John 6
I have the immense privilege of being involved in a gathering of flipping epic ladies at our church. We meet to be women who are intentional about change, about being our best selves, about finding freedom from the things that would hold us back from showing up in the world.
To me – this is church. This is what faith should look like in action – I think in the old days they called it sanctification. Anywho…
At our last gathering I talked about those times when we feel ‘not enough‘ when what we have to offer the world seems feeble or meagre or downright naff. When I talk about offering the world – that can sound grandiose and distant – lets bring it closer to home… I mean what I offer my kids, my husband, my friends often seems flawed and imperfect. I am not a perfect parent (she laughs internally as I know the real truth about how very flawed I am), I let people down, I’m terrible at responding to texts and sometimes I am not the person I want to be – sometimes?? Often! In a world of comparison and competition what we have and who we are often seems such a little amount, too small, not good enough.
We live in a world that sees perfection as a bar to be achieved… we see ‘super human’ so often and measure our meagre humanity against it. We know of course that these people are most likely not perfect but their imperfections are covered over and hidden away… and so we learn to do the same. We hide the little we do have because of what we don’t possess.
There are four common ways we respond when we see a flaw or lack, when our little is compared and comes off worse… our natural response will be to do or feel one or all of these things…
- shame
- blame
- deflect
- protect
Shame screams to stay hidden, to hide the imperfections incase anyone sees, blame points the finger anywhere in order to detract from our failings, deflecting projects an image that is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (we all have those Facebook friends right??!) and protecting means shutting down from anything we could offer in case it gets hurt. I, my friends, have done them all.
I am starting to see a shift though.
The shift is people starting to show up and stand out anyway – with all their little to offer and imperfections and declare ‘I may not be perfect but I am enough’. They are starting to dare to whisper ‘I will not hide myself out of shame or guilt’; they are beginning to see that when imperfections are seen – blame is not the best response.
I love the story of the feeding of the 5000… it was a childhood favourite but for new reasons it is becoming a grown up favourite too.
One boy, with a small packed lunch – what he has is clearly not enough, not even close. But he stood up and offered it anyway; he partnered in the miracle. It was never his job to be enough, to multiply food, to be God… his part was to offer the little he had and see what Jesus would do with it.
We live in a world that screams at us that to be enough we must be perfect, God offers us a gospel that screams in His hands we are already enough.
You may not think you have much, you may be imperfect or flawed or live a life which seems a bit mundane; you may compare yourself to others around you and come off worse, you may say you are not clever or beautiful or talented enough…
but I believe, dear friend, that you are brave enough to show up and be the person you were created to be, warts and all, and in the hands of Someone far greater than you, could be the very miracle that is needed in the world.
Helen Cottee 