Just do the best you can.

 A few weeks ago at church, I heard this new profound way of approaching my faith and my relationship with Jesus. It came during the offering time, where one of the other pastors or elder members will get up and speak to the congregation for a few moments about a Bible passage that God put on their heart that also related to the offering.

Typically the themes have been about honoring God. The passages are almost all the same, which I don't mind. I'm finding repetition is good: God is good. God is good because He is God. God is good all the time, and all the time He is good. There is never a time He isn't good. God loves you. He loves you and He wants you blessed. These are things no previous church I've attended have ever really preached. In addition: the importance of honoring God. And it's not just about giving but giving for the right reasons. It's good to give, but it's even better to give because you truly want to give. I'm trying to adopt that attitude. I tithe. (I try to go a little above 10%, not to boast but rather as a financial tactic considering for many years my income wasn't the same month to month. I had to guesstimate.)

I digress. The point of today's post is about this profound way of approaching my faith and my relationship with Jesus, which ties into the theme of giving, and it is this:

You don't need to be perfect. Just commit to following God's word, and do the best you can.

"Just do the best you can."

On the one hand, the last year-and-a-half has been a series of complete wholesale changes in my life. Yes, COVID, but also other things. On the other, just the last two months have been that: risks and adventures and steep learning curves. I've had moments (privately) of wanting to quit. "But God..." Exactly. "But God." He's propping me up. As is my love and her family. As well as a few others that I text periodically or call. I'm committing to following God's word, and sometimes doing so feels like being in some sort of torture chamber, not because of God's word (it is 100% good) but rather because of the world we live in, which includes the flesh and all its failings, which includes the spiritual realm, and which includes the enemy himself. Sometimes doing the next right thing means having the armor of God on and praying/declaring/speaking fighting words against spirits and voices that try to prey on my past and all its brokenness, sin, pain, and fear. But having the armor of God means facing it and standing in the midst of it, all the while trying to make sense of the current adventure and learning curve.

I'm doing the best I can, and I'm committing to it.

Lately, I've felt a nudge to read Psalm 119. Yes, that's not only the longest Psalm, but it's also the longest chapter in the entire Bible. No other chapter has 176 verses. But today, this particular verse struck me: My soul breaks with longing For Your judgments at all times. Psalm 119:20, NKJV

To me, it has become a spiritual version of "trust the process," from my therapy days. But it wasn't until recently that, thanks to my church, I heard a Biblical version of "spiritual progress, not spiritual perfection."

Commit to following what God's word says, and just do the best you can.