Don't Wait to Be Happy
By Stephen Puricelli
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT
As a recovering perfectionist, this verse speaks to the inner voice that I find myself struggling to ignore. I’m constantly waiting for life to be perfect before I can possibly be happy. The problem is, as everyone knows, nothing in this life is perfect.
You’ll never go on the perfect vacation and you’ll never host the perfect Christmas family get-together. Perfection is a terrible template for your life. So, why is it so tempting to chase?
God called us to be holy and faithful and enduring. Jesus promised problems and trials and temptations and distractions. He talked a lot about the temptations of wealth and sex and power and trying to control things. But, Jesus never said that perfection was the goal. Our perfection comes from Him— never from ourselves.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:6-8 NIV
In our quest for perfection, we fool ourselves into waiting for the perfect time to do things. There’s no perfect time to get baptized. There’s no perfect time to get married. There’s no perfect place to have the conversation you’ve been waiting to have. There’s no perfect job. There’s no perfect time to quit (or to start) that thing. Perfection is a mirage this side of death.
Jesus—who was the human embodiment of perfection—hardly had the kind of life that we’d describe as “perfect.” Think about that! Jesus was perfect but didn’t have a “perfect life” in the way we think of the “perfect life.” As a matter of fact, when I dream about what my perfect life would look like, I don’t think about the life of Jesus at all.
Here’s why: my perfect dreams usually have to do with my circumstances. When my circumstances are perfect—my life is perfect. When my circumstances are less than perfect, my happiness dissipates. That’s how I think about it (and maybe you too). In contrast, Jesus’ perfect dreams were of His obedience to the mission God called Him to accomplish. This had nothing to do with His circumstances.
Happiness is not found in chasing your personal perfection or chasing your perfect circumstances. If it is, you’ll never be happy.
“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:12-13 NIV
Whatever you think of as perfect is the thing that becomes your god. This was a powerful realization for me. When I see something I perceive as perfect, I worship at that altar. In sports, we celebrate the perfect play. In music, we get chills from the perfect song. In nature, the amazing view leaves us awestruck.
Don’t entrust perfection to just anything. Don’t place the burden of perfection on yourself, your spouse, your kids, your work, or your circumstances. Nothing can withstand that weight—except for God alone.
If you worship the god of perfection, you’ll be let down. But, if you worship the God who is perfection, your happiness can ensue.
It turns out that happiness is more of a paradox. Happiness is found in our vulnerabilities and in our weaknesses. When we continue to be completely loved as if our vulnerabilities and weaknesses didn’t even exist—that’s the essence of complete happiness.
God has a perfect love in our imperfect relationship with Him. Though we are imperfect, and God certainly knows that, happiness can emerge in our imperfections.
"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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
So, quit waiting to be happy. Quit waiting for everything to be made right and perfect. This season, we worship the One we know is perfect—Jesus.
He perfectly loves you. He perfectly fulfills you. He perfectly sustains you. And, one day, as your faith endures, He’ll perfectly remake you. Be happy knowing that.