Originally published Sunday, 22 November 2015.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
Psalm 51:17 (MSG)
I was walking our dog in the field below our house this morning. It has been raining for the last four days and there was a brief break in the rain so I grabbed a rain jacket and told Oliver to come and off we went.
As we walked I noticed a pinky wild flower open to the sky. I leaned in to take a closer look and I thought, “What a pity it’s not perfect.”
But it was beautiful so I pulled out my phone, and knelt down to take a pic.
This intrigued our 8 month old puppy and he came bounding across the field to see what I was looking at.
He stood on the flower in the process. To get a photo I would now need to hold the flower up with my hand.
The photo wouldn’t be perfect.
I took a photo anyway (bottom right hand corner of the photo collage) because I’m learning that something doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
The Nester reminds me of this often as she highlights photos from on instagram from the #idhtbptbb (it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful) feed. The pictures feature décor that isn’t perfect but are beautiful.
But it’s not just in décor that I need to learn this. It is in life.
I’ve been thinking about old photos a lot lately. Decades ago when film was rare and precious, there are only a couple of photos to remember a special event. Many of those photos aren’t perfect but they’re beautiful.
Many lives aren’t perfect but they are beautiful.
That's a bit like the gospel for me.
It's messy.
It's ugly.
It's not easy to hear about a man hanging on a cross. It must have been harder to witness.
Sometimes it's hard to believe that a Jesus could have died, risen again, and that somehow in that mess, that our redemption is found.
Somehow through a messy story God worked redemption and beauty and life and hope out for us.
It’s a story of God seeing beauty in our imperfection.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. (tweet this)
I think that verse sums up the beauty of the gospel.
Your life doesn’t have to be perfect for you to run into your Father’s arms and thank him for creating beautiful things in your life.
And your life doesn’t have to be perfect for God to notice you and call you beautiful. (tweet this)
My life isn’t perfect but I’m learning to recognize it is beautiful. And sometimes it is in the imperfections that I find the most beauty.
Ponder: What imperfect moments or things can you notice today where the flaws add beauty?
Prayer: Thank you Jesus, that my imperfect life does not escape your notice. Thank you for reminding me that you call me beautiful in the midst of my mess.
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- This was orginally published on my site in July 2015. To read more devotionals like this go to ilovedevotionals.com
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