Excuses

“Never let the sense of failure keep you from moving forward with Christ.” Oswald Chambers

I am ever-so-far from perfect. This is only one of my stalemate excuses. I can talk myself out of or into almost anything, and any past mistake made feels like a great reason to avoid advancement.

I’m not the right voice. Moses said he wasn’t a gifted public speaker, and he questioned God’s appointment of him to talk a pharaoh into doing God’s will (Exodus 4:10). Since I am a professor, I don’t tell God I’m not good at talking, but that I’m probably not the right one to do the talking. Who wants the girl with raw cookie dough on her breath telling them the importance of nutrition? Yes, I’m trying to be better, but I’m not perfect yet.

I’ll speak up when I get to perfect. That way no one will question my authority. That way, God’s reputation won’t falter based on my failures. Yeah. That’s a good idea. Then my life will “so shine before men” (Matthew 5:16) that they’ll see the perfect Creator through His perfect creation.

Stop.

I tend to feel I’m not accomplishing anything if I’m not mastering everything, but, let’s face it—I’m human. I’m not perfect. If I keep waiting to do what I feel God is prompting me to do until I feel I have a clean slate…well, I’ll be writing my life work in chalk with one hand and furiously erasing with the other, hoping no one has a chance to sneak a peak at my mistakes.

But my mistakes are everywhere, ranging from actual physical scars I see every day to emotional ones in my heart or in the hearts of others I’ve hurt. I can let it keep me back. The devil cannot think of anything that would make him happier.

“Never let the sense of failure keep you from moving forward with Christ.” Oswald Chambers

His perfect hand is stretched out, and He’s saying to me, “Come on,” and to others, “She’s with me.”

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest Journal. Uhrichsville, Ohio: Barbour Publishing, n.d. 

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