I THINK many of you are aware that I have a favorite expositor, J.R. Miller. I quote him often and have downloaded many of his missives from Grace Gems. One of my favorites he wrote is titled The Beauty of the Imperfect. A little over three years ago I posted that piece to my website/blog, along with personal comments. I’ve decided to revisit it once again in these Morning Greetings. It is very much worth repeating.
AS I get older, I’m more prone to forgetting things, finding it harder to remember certain other things, like putting a name to a familiar face or place.
So, teach me to number my days oh Lord, that I may gain a heart of wisdom. Psa. 90:12
BUT an oddity I’ve discovered of late – which appears to be normal in old age – is the ability to recall past experiences and events from my younger days; those many lessons learned along the way, and memories made that are still there and remain; …funny how the mind works.
FOR instance, I recall an old Jack Webb – Badge 714, TV episode where Joe Friday and his partner encounter a drunk staggering down the city sidewalk. In “good cop” fashion, rather than drag him off to jail they offer to escort him safely home, asking him where he lives. After swaying back and forth, looking to his left then to his right, obviously confused and disoriented, making several attempts to provide an answer, the drunk stutters the words, “You can’t get there from here.” Again, funny how I remember that scene and the humorous impression it left upon me. It said much about an individual in a lost state of pathetic ignorance with nowhere to turn.
THE point is – “you can’t get there from here” was really not true, he just didn’t know the way at that particular moment, being blind as it were to any path way home, making a way “there” impossible.
WE often feel like that, hopeless, disoriented, like there is no way to get there from here. But it is not true. With God, nothing is impossible, in fact that is the very point of the whole narrative of redemption! I often enjoy taking a stumbling one to 1Cor. 10:13, placing it in the context of the entire chapter including chapter 11, verse 1. God is in the business of redemption and restoration, getting us “there.” The Bible is filled with true stories about dysfunctional individuals and families being born again, renewed, redirected, and remade in the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1Cor. 10:13)
I LOVE that word dysfunctional. It is one modern day psychological definition that so aptly fits! The definition of dysfunctional is – something that is flawed and doesn’t operate correctly, or someone that deviates from normal standards of acceptance; not operating normally or properly. …Ever since the fall when sin entered into heart and mind we live in a world groaning under the “bondage of corruption,” awaiting the final liberty (Rom. 8:18-30). As David Brooks puts it is his book, Road to Character, We are all deeply divided selves, both splendidly endowed and deeply flawed. Yes, splendidly endowed in the image of God, but deeply flawed by the affects of sin, not as we ought to be, “bent” as C.S. Lewis put it; all having sinned coming short of God’s glory as Rom. 6:23; “not normal” – not as it should be. …Or is it?
SO, pause here for a moment and consider those last three words, “Or is it?” I have come to the conclusion after all these years that things are not always – in fact often are not – what they seem to be. Our perception of things are many times based upon false assumptions. (Ask me about a “snow fence” someday. It’s good illustration to this point.)
SO where am I going with this? As previously mentioned, I frequently revisit this piece of writing from J.R. Miller titled The Beauty of the Imperfect. The next several weeks I’m going to share this again in serial form. And with it let me also share a favorite quote, “Progress, not perfection,” …at least, not on this side heaven. Today’s excerpt from The Beauty of the Imperfect will be short because my introduction went long.
In the inexorable blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas 1:2
*********
The Beauty of the Imperfect – J. R. Miller
Most of us fret over our faults and failures. Our imperfections discourage us. Our defeats ofttimes break our spirit and cause us to give up. But this is not true living. When we look at it in the right way, we see that the experiences which have been so disheartening to us, really contain in them elements of hope and encouragement.
There is beauty in imperfection. Perhaps we have not thought of it—but the imperfect in a godly life—is really the perfect in an incomplete state. It is a stage of progress, a phase of development. It is the picture—before the artist has finished it. It is beautiful, therefore, in its time and place.
A blossom is beautiful, although compared with the ripe, luscious fruit, whose prophecy it carries in its heart—it seems very imperfect. …to be continued
