Making the Best of the Less Than Perfect
Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
Genesis 41:38-41 (NIV)
Can we learn to honor God with gratitude and faithfulness when we have to steward less-than-perfect seasons?
Life doesn’t always gift you with perfection, but God’s perfect will is always gifting you, even if His presence and purposes in your life are displayed in less-than-perfect contexts and conditions of life. Even in the less-than-perfect context, you are perfectly situated to honor God in the same way you would if it were absolutely perfect, because perfect is not the only way God gives gifts.
God is saying, Why are you limiting your theological reflection of Me to think that I can’t accomplish My perfect will in your less-than-perfect circumstances? I can take your broke circumstances and make you rich. I can take your sick condition and make you a healer. I can take your conflicting environment and still give you peace.
Faithfulness does not depend on perfect conditions. It thrives in imperfect circumstances because faithfulness is a choice. We make a commitment to persevere despite the challenges that are surrounding us. It’s an unwavering belief that even when we cannot see the results of our labor or efforts, we keep showing up because God can work His perfect will in a less-than-perfect context.
The context and conditions are going to change, but you will only benefit from it if you can be faithful in the season that precedes it. So get up and go back to the same job you can’t stand and work it like you love it. Drive that dilapidated car and let it smoke and shake; drive it like you just rolled it off the showroom floor. Get your sick body up out of the bed, shake yourself into some flexibility, and walk even with your ailment, like you are a picture of perfect health. Why? Because trouble doesn’t last. Be faithful in the less-than-perfect because God’s perfect will is in it.
