How to Let Go of Perfect for Something Better
Have you ever been asked just the right question precisely when you needed it? A few days ago I was loving challenged by a friend to ask God the truth about my work. The conversation stemmed from an admittance that I always feel compelled to produce my very best work and struggle with giving myself a break. Because I am committed to being transparent in the middle of my learning how to live on mission, I want to bring you into the conversation I’m currently having with God. If you, too, need to learn how to let go of perfect so you can find something better, please stick with me.
I’ve been finding little pockets of rest in the middle of months of focused writing, editing, proofreading, and formatting, but the truth is that I don’t want to stop working until everything I start is finished with excellence. And it’s exhausting, chasing after perfection as if it’s a line in the sand when it’s really a moving target.
Perhaps you, too, are your own worst critic. Perhaps that inner voice that tells you to try harder, do better, be better is so familiar you don’t know who you would be without it. But, just perhaps, there is another way—something better than the perfection you can will into existence.
It may be that we can only find the answer through the letting go—through pursuing surrender instead of perfection.
As I write, a proof copy of Cultivating a Missional Life sits on the table near me, the spine slightly off-center. The books being run off the printer, I’ve learned, instead of being perfectly centered are even further off center. Inside I cringe because, though the issue will hopefully be remedied, it’s hard to swallow that my efforts to make the book perfect are not reflected in the final product. But this, perhaps, is another way God is encouraging me to let go. Only in the letting go of my desire for everything with my name on it to be up to my standard of quality can I release the words to impact as they will. I must let my not-completely-perfect work be seen.
And perhaps today, you too need to let your not-completely-perfect work be seen.
My journal, thumbed open to Psalm 40:8, which I’d written in cursive, sits atop my stack of currently-reading books. I pause to savor the words: “I delight to fulfill your will, my God, for your living words are written upon the pages of my heart” (TPT). My delight is to be in God’s will, not in my own work. I live fully when I live for him. This I know and speak and type, yet I am still learning to live it—because when I hyper-focus on making my own work perfect, I can forget that God in his brilliant perfection can still be glorified through my less-than perfect work. My human-ness is a better conduit of his heart than my stubborn bent to create perfection.
To receive from God, I must adopt the position of open. Then to let his words spill out through my fingers and my spoken words, I must also remain open. This openness, this surrender, though it chaffs against my grain it smooths my rough, not-yet-like-Christ places. But openness is something I can only pursue when let go of perfect.
I read another hand-penned verse in my journal:
Pour into me your rays of revelation-truth!
Psalm 43:3-4 TPT
Let them comfort and gently lead me onto the shining path,
showing the way into your burning presence,
into your many sanctuaries of holiness.
Then I will come closer to your very altar
until I come before you, the God of my ecstatic joy!
I will praise you with the harp that plays in my heart,
to you, my God, my magnificent God!
The wisdom to make the best decisions, the insights from his heart to deeply encourage others, the joy of simply being near him—these are better than the satisfaction spun from seeking perfection in all I do. God working in me is far, far better than me working on my own towards anything. Yes, I bring him glory through “putting my heart and soul into every activity [I] do” as I am encouraged in Colossians 3:23 TPT, but I ought not to dismiss the latter part of the verse, which reads: “as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others.” It is here that I find the missing key. Excellence in my work honors God, but striving for perfection to satisfy my own preferences serves neither God or others well.
It all boils down to where my heart is.
Is my relentless pursuit of perfect opening the door wider for God to have his way in my life or encouraging me to keep him at arm’s distance?
Can I let go of perfect if it helps others truly know me so the things God is doing inside of me can ripple out beyond me?
I am beyond grateful for the message from my friend encouraging me to engage in conversation with God about wanting my work to always be perfect. I needed the pause. The reflection. The surrender. And if you need a pause too, I hope that my words can do the same for you.
Before we close, I’ll leave you with a song that has spoken straight to my heart the past few days, so of course I’ve been playing it on repeat. It’s a spontaneous song from Bethel, sung by Jenn Johnson and Hunter Thompson, called “You Can Just Rest.”
As you listen, I encourage you to talk with God about what is true of your own work. Here are a few questions to guide you:
- Who will I let down if my work is less-than-perfect?
- What am I gaining through my pursuit of excellent work?
- What am I losing in the process?
My copy of Cultivating a Missional Life with its off-center spine is one I want to keep visible as a ready reminder that surrender, not perfection, is the final goal. I want to let God have full access to my life and to lean into transparency so the ripples flowing out from the work he is doing inside me are not impeded. I want to live open.
God asks us to join his mission with willing, though imperfectly ready, hearts. The journey he invites us to will descend ever deeper into humble vulnerability. So let’s let go of perfect and trust that God can use even our imperfections.
Jesus, you know us so well. You know that the letting go can be so very hard. We need your help to let go of control so our less-than-perfect work and messy lives can draw others to you. May we trust you fully and surrender completely. In your holy and precious name, Lord, we pray. Amen.
P.S. Did you know The Uncommon Normal is also a podcast? Tune in on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or Spotify.
2 Comments
Andrea Nyberg
Good stuff! I particularly appreciate the questions you asked at the end. I struggle with perfectionism in my work as well. I’ll run myself into the ground until it’s “just right.” But thinking about what I’m giving up in the process is a critical shift in perspective. Thank you!
twyla
Thank you for reading! I’m so grateful it encouraged you!!!