Something I need to rest in

I heard a report on WXXI this morning that there is a piano competition that is attached to the Eastman School that begins today at 1:30 p.m. The gentleman that is in charge of the event recalls a conversation that he had with a student that was not happy with the position that he had received in a previous competition because he had missed a couple of notes in the piece that he had performed. The student mentioned that even the great pianists miss notes here and there when they perform to which the instructor, rightfully, replied "Yes...but that is not what we should seek to emulate about them." That response was brilliant and has implications about my walk with God.

I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God works in spite of me. I don't hold my marshmallows close enough to the fire for them to toast properly but God, because of his great love for me, makes sure that they are toasted just right for the s'mores that he knows I will enjoy. He is a great God and I need to rest in that greatness. But, what I have a tendency to rest in is the "in spite of" part.

I know I am not going to be perfect this side of heaven but that does not mean I that I can't be better. I know that I am going to fail but that does not mean that I shouldn't work to fail less often or less spectacularly. I can't rest in knowing that God works in spite of me and the people that I hang out with and love. My struggle needs to be this: in the working out of my salvation with fear and trembling so that God will work in spite of me in ever-decreasing measure.

Maybe that is too tall of an order. But maybe, just maybe, that will be part of the "Well done good and faithful servant" that I hope to receive when I see him after my friend shows me the way.

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