Behind Those Eyes: Ms. Perfection (chapter two)

Here are my reflective thoughts for week two in "Behind Those Eyes" by Lisa Whittle, hosted by Lelia. Please note I am writing these Monday afternoon as Tuesdays I am caught up in clinicals with my nursing students. Then as soon as I get home that evening I am running to dance and gymnastics with the girls so posting is next to impossible unless I write the day before.

I re-read chapter two last night. I was intrigued with the verse Lisa used at the front of this chapter. I stared at for a long time. It seemed to stump my thoughts. Maybe I was tired. Maybe it was because of that "flesh women" spirit inside me that has made her presence known and bothersome. She has been trying hard to block the spiritual. I have been tense internally, I can especially feel it in my jaws. I figure this is just part of this battle of letting go. Whatever the reason for my mental block, I was intrigued by this verse:

To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. ~Psalm 119:96

I guess I was stumped by how the two lines went together and related to the chapter. What was Lisa's intention for this verse in referencing "Ms. Perfection"?

I continued to read this chapter and understand the life drama's Lisa wrote about. We all have gone through these drama's to try and display perfection in our lives, even when it is so far from the truth. Not that is it is wrong to try and achieve these things she wrote about (perfect families, perfect marriages, perfect lives) but the reality is found in the Scripture she reminded usof from 2 Corinthians 3:5 "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God". That's where perfection, confidence, peace and joy come from...our competence in Christ. I agree. I have seen it in others, I have experienced it in my own life.

But back to that verse she listed in the beginning of the chapter. I needed to read more of the surrounding verses to fully grasp what God wanted us to take from this piece of scripture He laid on Lisa's heart. It just wouldn't leave me. Ps 119:89-96 in the NIV version reads:

Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.
Your faithfulness continues through all generations; you established the earth, and it endures.
Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.
If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts.
The wicked are waiting to destroy me, but I will ponder your statutes.
To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless.

It's describing the perfection of Christ and who He is or can be in our life, right? Without Him we would not survive life's crisis, agree? He's our life preserver. He is who we should cling to when the going gets tough. We all know that. Now read this section of passage in the Message version and be awed....

What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it's as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and truth are dependable as ever; that's what you ordered—you set the earth going. If your revelation hadn't delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came. But I'll never forget the advice you gave me; you saved my life with those wise words. Save me! I'm all yours. I look high and low for your words of wisdom. The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me, but I'm only concerned with your plans for me. I see the limits to everything human, but the horizons can't contain your commands!

There's that word-TRUTH! Truth is permanent, dependable and inspiring. Truth is perfection, the perfection we find in Christ. Truth is the perfection we are in Christ. Living in truth is living in God's way, obedient to Him. The same truth that carried David through his life drama's thousands of years ago will carry us in the same way. It will circulate through our body to cleanse us and to heal us and most importantly, it will give us life. The truth of who we are in Christ is what we must except, not the truth or labels we (or others) try to place on our self because of how we have lived up to this point.

Lisa's challenge question for this chapter asked us to "search our heart" and ask if it is "more important to be seen as perfect in certain areas or seen as real". I looked in the mirror. Imperfections are too numerous to name here. But then I looked again with spiritual eyes and I smiled. My imperfect life is what makes me real. My heart and internal longing for more of Christ is what makes me real. No more hiding THAT truth. I'm a living, walking, talking example of GRACE and I am at peace with it, confident God will use it for His glory if I am obedient to Him with it.

Perfection will come in the eternal. For now, I am looking for the spiritual wonder and wisdom that I can only gain from God's truth and to live it!

It feels like chaos but He IS up to something bigger than me! So I am seeking out His precepts. I am only concerned with His plans and His truths in me.


Pamela (MrsJoeB)