Slaying perfectionism with the sword of truth

Today I am pleased to recommend an outstanding devotional book for women. It's a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life by Joan C. Webb offers freedom to the gal like me who tends toward perfectionism. Most of us do, to some degree, recoil frequently after thoughts that we could have, should have, would have done better on a task or in a situation. If you're like me, you fight with overanalyzing your own mess-ups, instead of rejoicing in God's grace and His promise to work everything into good. (Rom 8:28) Joan's easy-reading reflections help free the mind to focus on God's unconditional love.

Joan is a recovering workaholic and perfectionist who communicates a message of freedom and renewal, coaching and teaching others to become who God has gifted them to be. She speaks nationally and internationally and has appeared on Christian radio and television. Joan is the author or coauthor of magazine articles, curriculum and eleven books, including The Relief of Imperfection. She even wrote study notes for The Women of Faith Study Bible. And believe it or not, I met Joan on Twitter!

Here's a sample devotional she has allowed me to copy and paste for you here. Another devotional will be posted on Samaritian Diva's blog tomorrow, Nov. 6 at www.samaritiandiva.com. There's an ongoing "blog tour" you can follow, and the schedule is here. Copies of the book can be purchased by clicking on this link.

Do It Again

Luke 5:5-6: “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, we’ll try again.” And this time their nets were so full they began to tear! (NLT)

From my window just now, I watched a golfer prepare and then strike his little white ball only to flub it. It popped into the rough three feet to the right of where he stood. He slumped and shook his club. Then he walked over to the ball’s new position and hit again. It sailed through the air, over the bunker and landed near the hole.

Sometimes we do it well. (It might be parenting, working, exercising, praying, teaching—or whatever.) Other times even our best efforts yield less than stellar results and we slump inwardly.

I think Simon Peter probably wasn’t thrilled when he and his co-workers worked all night with nothing to show. As a professional, surely he practiced the latest tricks of his trade. Still no fish. Yet when Jesus said try again, he did.

We can, too. Like the disappointed golfer, we can walk a little further, steady our stance and try again. Our actions won’t always be flawless, since only God is perfect every moment of every day. Yet we can listen and obey his promptings to do it again.

Lord, I’m bummed, but I’m willing to try again. Please honor my efforts and bring worthwhile results.

Making It Personal: So you flubbed? I challenge you to try again—consistently for the next 3 weeks. What will you do? Cement your decision by writing it here and calling a caring friend to share.