“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
Last week I mentioned cutting myself some slack when tackling hills, and this week that idea stuck with me.
I have a target time for my running mile. Sometimes my mile time is much longer than I’d like, and sometimes it’s surprisingly shorter. On the days when my running time is slower than normal, I try to think about why (because I always imagine myself gracefully flying down the road, so something must be going on).
Once I start thinking about what’s slowing me down, my slower time makes a lot of sense.
- I ran in town, so I had to wait for stop lights at crosswalks (we have new signals with a man’s deep voice that says “wait” every time you touch the arrow button. . . every time. . . oh, the endless possibilities).
- I ran up longer or steeper hills, and running down them actually takes me longer because I need to protect my knees.
- I ran on sidewalks, and those Sunday morning walkers chose to ignore the sounds of clomping feet and panting as I tried to pass them.
- I stopped to stretch, because apparently that’s what I need to do now.
- I slowed down to blow my nose. . . which happens a lot during allergy season. . . and to eat my Swedish fish (stay tuned for an explanation of this in an upcoming post).
- It’s Thursday, and it’s the been a long work week, and my body is tired.
So on the days when my feet don’t move as quickly as they do in my mind, I ask myself three questions:
- What’s my total mileage vs total time?
- Am I hurt? Did I pull anything?
- Did I have a good workout?
Because after considering these questions, I don’t feel quite as bad about my mile time. In fact, I cut myself some slack because, come on, I went for a run. I could have slept in, could have gotten to the beach earlier, could have spent more time in my pjs, but I ran. I gave the best that I had in those moments. So even if it wasn’t the best (or prettiest) run ever, I still did it and got something out of it.
Maybe as you’re reading this and you’re not a runner, but I’ll bet there are things you do regularly that don’t always feel like you did them up to your desired standards. So think, what else was going on that impacted the performance of your routine task? Do your results make sense considering both internal and external influences? Did you keep going?
Because guess what – we’re not perfect. We aren’t going to be strong and on our game all the time.
In fact, we are meant to boast in our weakness:
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV
God didn’t create perfect people, and He didn’t create people who need to strive for perfection. Instead, let’s be content with weaknesses. . . which will probably take a good dose of humility. . . and find our strength and self-worth in God.
What three questions will you ask yourself this week in a moment of needing to cut yourself some slack?
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
