I had great plans for the first part of last week. Articles to write, a video devotional to record, a blog with technical problems to update.
And then my husband got sick and was home for the entire week.
Suddenly my plan was thrown into chaos and then put on the back burner. Onto the front burner came extra cooking, cleaning, sanitizing, organizing, a visit to the doctor, and watching movies with my husband who was laid out on the couch in misery.
Then I started reading updates via Twitter, Facebook and email about all the wonderful things that other writers were accomplishing that week. And I thought about everything I had planned to write and didn’t.
I started to compare myself to others and sink low.
But here’s the deal. I’m deciding to give myself permission to be human. Because God does.
“As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear (respect, revere, stand in awe of) Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14 NIV)
No, permission to be human doesn’t mean choose to be mediocre for the rest of your life. No, it doesn’t mean start willfully sinning because God’s grace will cover it.
But it does mean that sometimes something you didn’t expect happens and you have to put the rest of your life, and your ambitions, and your control of the situation on hold to do something more important.
Like taking care of your very sick husband.
Like actually living the life you’re writing about anyway. And trusting that God’s holding your future and it’s not going to be ruined by something unexpected being thrown into your path.
Because in the end, in terms of ministry, my husband comes before my writing.
Sometimes you just have to give yourself permission to be human. Whether your plans change because of sick kids at home, unexpected overtime at work, or something else you didn’t envision happening.
Maybe some nights you make a quick microwave meal instead of something fabulously homemade. Or you give yourself extra rest time because you need it, rather than making sure every last dish in your sink is clean and put away.
“The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and loving-kindness.” (Psalm 145:8)
We’re human. Stuff happens. Some days we feel like we just summited Mt. Everest. Other days we feel like a flop. And God has compassion for us in the midst of it.
When is a recent time you had to give yourself “permission to be human”?
