The Pursuit of Perfect

My Christmas tree saga that I wrote about yesterday was born out of a simple motivation: I just wanted the tree to look good. I wanted a perfect Christmas. Some might call it OCD, and maybe that's a factor, but at its heart, it’s a deep desire we all share.

This pursuit of the "perfect Christmas" affects everyone; we even see it in our favorite Christmas movies… Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation was obsessed with importing 25,000 Italian twinkle lights in pursuit of the perfect, old-fashioned Griswold family Christmas. Or Buddy the Elf in Elf, searching for his dad and dreaming of the perfect family reunion.

We have this desire to orchestrate a flawless, magical experience. But as my Christmas tree experience showed, our attempts often fall short.

We spend so much energy trying to make things perfect, and yet we can't control the outcome. We can't guarantee a "Griswold-style" lighting reveal or a tearful family reunion. Our idea of “perfect” is limited—God’s idea of perfect is so much greater.

Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah, written 700 years before the first Christmas:

“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)

This Advent season, let's step back from our pursuit of “perfect” and, instead, embrace God's perfect plan of peace, hope, and love. It's bigger, deeper, and more beautiful than anything we could ever create on our own.

Let’s pray together… Lord, thank you for your perfect ways and thoughts that are so much higher than mine. Help me to let go of my need for control and my desire to create a perfect Christmas on my own terms. Open my eyes to see the perfect plan you've already put in motion. Amen.

Never forget, my friend: you are a miracle!

You are a miracle!