Good Enough

Awhile back I wrote about my deep ponderings as I cleaned my kitchen.  I questioned, "What's the point?" seeing as how the counter, table, floors, and everything else I so furiously scrubbed and washed and wiped down would be dirty again in 3.7 seconds.  You wouldn't even be able to tell that I had gone to all the work to make my sink sparkle or the floor shine.  So, what was the point of cleaning my kitchen in the first place?!

Thankfully, my despair did not keep me from finishing the much-needed and necessary household chore.  Instead, I just accepted the reality that being a mother of two small children meant cleaning and recleaning and recleaning and recleaning and...well, you get the idea.

And since my "job" is never done, God has had ample opportunity to teach me more about Him and our relationship as I have been doing other chores throughout the house this week.  The recurring thought in my head as I try to clean as quickly as I can in the few "spare" minutes I have while the girls are napping or playing contentedly by themselves seems to be, "That's good enough."  I justify my haste and lack of zeal with a, "At least it's better than it used to be." 

I found myself thinking these very things two days ago as I pulled dirty dishes out of the dishwasher.  I was pretty frustrated that my dishwasher wasn't doing its job and that I would have to take extra time to actually wash the dishes myself!  (What did people do before the dishwasher was invented?!)  Annoyed, I filled one side of the sink with hot, soapy water and then went to get the rinse water ready in the other side, only to realize that the drain wasn't working and the water slowly disappeared.  Already aggravated, my grumpy mood got even grumpier.  Still, I knew the dishes wouldn't wash themselves, and so I proceeded to take all the dirty dishes out of the sink, place them on the counter, and then wash one item at a time, placing the clean but still studsy dishes in the empty side of the sink.  As the dry side of the sink filled with wet dishes, I would stop to rinse off the clean dishes and stack them in the drying rack that I found stashed behind plastic bags and some potatoes in the cabinet under the sink.  I wasn't really planning on spending thirty minutes of my morning washing dishes, especially since I had expected the dishwasher to do the job for me, while I got other things done -- like cleaning the inside of the microwave and mopping the floor.  So, I must admit I did not stop to thoroughly investigate every single pot, pan, bowl, plate, cup, spoon, knife, and fork to make sure I had removed every single speck of food.  I just wanted to get the job done as quickly as possible and assured myself, "They're good enough.  At least they're better than they used to be."  I think I probably added a, "They're just going to get dirty again," and maybe a, "No one will notice since there will be food in the dishes anyway."  It's wasn't like I left huge chunks of crusted oatmeal or dried egg yolk on my dishes....I promise, I didn't.

This morning both girls were still sleeping after I had read my Bible, so I figured I should take advantage of the situation (like I am right now, as BOTH girls are actually taking a nap!).  One of today's household chores is cleaning the bathrooms.  We have the windows up to let the cool air in, and I noticed that the windowsill definitely needed some attention.  Dust and a few dead flies had accumulated since we had the windows open last time (you know, when it was actually spring-like weather instead of the more summer-esque temperatures we had been having in March and April).  I sprayed the windowsill and wiped up the dirt and flies.  I even cleaned the little ledge/crack thing on the window where you hold onto when you lift it up to open it.  However, I did not get out a Q-tip and clean out the corners of the windowsill where my towel simply couldn't reach.  I figured, "That's good enough.  It's better than it used to be.  Lots better!"   Then, I moved on to the main bathroom, where there are no windows.

As I was making my way back to the kitchen to put away my cleaning supplies and get another sip of coffee before it went from lukewarm to cold, God tapped me on the shoulder.  It's as if He whispered in my ear, "Good thing I don't have your work ethic."  If He did, He would have given up on me long, long, long ago!  If He looked at me and decided, "That's good enough.  She's better than she used to be," I would be a lost cause.  I would have no hope of becoming all that God has created me to be.  No way I could get there on my own.  About as much of a chance of that happening as my dishes washing themselves!

Several more thoughts came rushing into my head as I contemplated the fact that God never gives up on me, never stops working to make me better -- the way He intended me to be in the first place.  The children's song, "He's still working on me" ran through my mind. 

He's still working on me

to make me what I ought to be.

It only took a week to make the moon and stars,

the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars.

How loving and patient He must be,

He's still working on me.

There really ought to be

a sign upon my heart.

Don't judge her yet,

There's an unfinished part.

But I'll be perfect just according to His plan,

Fashioned by the Master's loving hands.

And that reminded me of Philippians 1:6, "I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back."

God never stops.  He never gives up or throws in the towel.  He never gets tired or weary.  Psalms 121 assures me of this:

I look up to the mountains --

does my help come from there?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made the heavens and the earth!

He will not let you stumble and fall;

the one who watches oer you will not sleep.

Indeed, He who watches over Israel

never tires and never sleeps.

The Lord Himself watches over you!

The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.

The sun will not hurt you by day,

nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps you from all evil

and preserves your life.

The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,

both now and forever.

The "as you come and go" part brought to mind Psalm 139 as David praises God with these words:

O Lord, You have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my every thought when far away.

You chart the path ahead of me,

and tell me where to stop and rest.

Every moment You know where I am.

You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

You both precede and follow me.

You place Your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to know!

I get tired just thinking about God never growing weary or sleeping!  And it's not just my life that He knows every single detail of.  I'm not the only one that He is constantly and cotinuously guiding and directing, molding and shaping, transforming into the person He created me to be.  He does that with every single person, all 6.6 billion of us!  Now I'm really exhausted! 

And not once does God ever look at me, or any of us, and say with an exasperated sigh, "Well, I guess that's good enough.  At least she's better than she used to be."   Thank goodness!

Instead, we are promised, "But we are citizens of heave, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.  And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior.  He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything, everywhere." (Php 3:20-21)

Paul writes much the same again in 2 Corinthians 3:18, "And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord.  And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more."

I can't promise that the next time I wash dishes, mop the floor, or clean the toilets, I won't hurry through the chore and justify, "That's good enough.  At least it's better than it used to be."  But, I assure you that the next time I look into the mirror to quickly do my hair and put on my make-up, I will remember "God's still working on me," transforming me into the woman He dreamed me to be as He "knit me together in my mother's womb."  And when my head hits the pillow tonight, exhausted from my day's work, I will be extremely thankful that my "God never tires or sleeps" but keeps on working, working, working.  "How loving and patient He must be!  He's still working on me!" 

And He will be until Jesus returns.

Only then will I be "all that I ought to be, perfect just according to His plan."

Only then will I truly be "good enough!"