There are behaviors I like about my kids and there are behaviors I don’t.
There are mannerisms I appreciate about my husband and there are mannerisms that drive me up the wall.
There are traits about myself I would deem as strengths and there are traits I would deem as *ahem* slightly less than perfect.
And this list could continue with:
My sisters.
My parents.
My neighbors.
My friends.
My pastor.
My church.
My faith.
Relationships are beautiful but equally challenging.
They are rewarding and simultaneously frustrating.
This back and forth / in and out / up and down / like-dislike thing is the ebb and flow of all relationships and the essence of life. You take the good with the bad.
You can’t have one without the other, for one side of the coin provides appreciation for the other.
This is also true of our relationship with God.
When God does something we don’t like, it doesn’t mean we get rid of Him completely. We can’t pick and choose a tailor-made version of God no more than we can handcraft the perfect child into existence. Trust me, I’ve tried. We get what we get.
Sometimes we’ll be grateful for what we have and other times we’ll want to pull out our hair (Lord knows I’m practically bald).
If we got rid of everything and everyone every time they annoyed us, we’d live lonely lives and die all alone.
It’s not real life.
Real life is beautiful and frustrating in it’s togetherness.
Real faith is beautiful and frustrating in it’s togetherness.
This is what makes it real. And raw. And hard. And glorious.
Point is, God is one more relationship that will have beautiful components and frustrating ones. He will do things we like and things we don’t. He will speak truth in perfect and hopeful moments, and He will speak truth that will rub us the wrong way. There will be situations that bring tears and situations that bring laughter. There will be fights and there will be victories. There will be questions and there will be answers. There will be seasons of uphill climbing and seasons of downhill sliding.
You can’t have one without the other.
You take the good with the bad.
And our job, in the midst of it all, is to keep perspective of the beauty, the lessons and the true purpose during times of struggle and slack, laughter and tears, clarity and uncertainty.
Yes, my children do crazy things, but they are good and they are mine.
Yes, my husband frustrates the crap out of me at times, but he’s an amazing man. And he is mine.
Yes, God takes me through hard situations – sometimes more than I would like or more than I think I can handle – but He is good. He is true. He is safe. He is trustworthy. He is kind. He is loving. He is gentle. And He is mine.
“On a good day, enjoy yourself; on a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days so that we won’t take anything for granted.” –Ecclesiastes 7:14 (MSG)
