Sometimes your best isn't good enough. Sometimes you give everything you can, put all your effort and energy into something, and its just not good enough.
For example, I feel this way at my job frequently. I put forth all I can and I am still required to come early, stay late, and work extra because there is more to be done.
Sometimes expectations are just too high. Sometimes your expectations of yourself are too low.
We got a new puppy this week - a boxer/rottweiler mix who's about 6 weeks old. And this puppy knows nothing of me or my personality or how I'm going to treat him but he loves me anyway. He isn't disapointed with my inability to pay for the top dog food brand, he is fine with ol roy, the cheapo Walmart brand. And he doesn't mind that he doesn't have a fancy kennel yet because I know he's going to get big fast - he is okay with his little cardboard box. He is content to sit in my lap and be petted and loved on.
Sometimes I wish I could just curl up and be patted like he does. But being a human, especially and adult, is much harder than being a puppy.
I guess what I'm getting at is that God loves us regardless of what we do or what we can afford. It doesn't matter what we do, it doesn't matter if our best doesn't get the job done - none of that matters to Him. What matters is we try and we love Him.
I wish sometimes people were more like my puppy, and more like God. Its so hard to find unconditional love. Its one of those things that humans simply do not understand. Loving someone regardless of how stupid they are, how many times they screw up, or how they don't live up to your expectations --- that's how God loves you.
Puppies have it good and puppies provide so much unconditional love even when they are dogs. Tycho is the most lovely 75 lb creature I've ever met. They are a great example of God's love!
ReplyDeleteWe get discouraged sometimes and wish we had the life of a puppy, or heck even of our own childhood. Life is hard as an adult, there is no question about that. And it is extremely hard to live as a Christian and extremely hard to not be hurt by people pushing us and causing us stress. But we are human and life is not anywhere near perfect. God will never give us something we can't handle though, even if we have to hang onto him to get through it. He wants us to cling to him! And there is always a fantastic reward in the end, we just can't see that far ahead yet. (And I'm not talking about all the way to heaven, but things like the accomplishment of a hard job being done, etc.)