If I were really good at this Faith thing, I would be less haunted by fears and past failures.

If I were really good at this Faith thing, I wouldn’t get so annoyed by people and pet peeves.

If I were really good at this Faith thing, I would have the right words to encourage and the energy to jump in when I’m needed.

Do you ever compare yourself to your own definition of Faith and find you don’t measure up?

Yeah, me too.

It can be scary to see how far we are from perfection. The good thing is God’s not looking for perfection.

Max Lucado says in his book, Grace for the Moment, the tag on our collars reads “as is.” God knows what He’s getting and He wants us anyway.

If God had to shop for us, He wouldn’t be in the Gucci store. He would be in the garbage bin behind Goodwill. He wants the authentic us, the us that’s used and broken and worthless, not the us that we’ve shined up for a special occasion.

He knows He can repurpose us into something magnificent. He’s a master fixer upper and He has all the time in the world to do it.

It kind of changes the measuring stick, doesn’t it? As if our Faith is better with the fears and the failures and the people and pet peeves and lack of encouragement and energy.

Today, when thoughts creep in to show us all the ways we don’t have it together, let’s count it as a blessing and say a little prayer of gratitude to the One who actually prefers us just the way we are.