"How do you do it?"

Have you ever had someone look at you in amazement and say, "I don't know how you do it!"?

Today, as I was leaving the church to go for a run, a dear friend said those very words to me. She was referring to my running, which, honestly, is hardly more than a belabored trot. I am quite possibly THE WORLD'S WORST committed jogger. Yes, I go faithfully. But its not pretty.

How do I do it? Messily. Awkwardly. Imperfectly.

I do it only by the grace of God.

If I had to be GOOD at it, I wouldn't go.

I am learning that God's grace doesn't enable me to do all things excellently.  It enables me to do excellent things. Do you see the difference?

• Leading a women's prayer meeting in French is an excellent thing to do--even if I do it imperfectly.
• Running a few times a week is an excellent thing to do--even if I do it awkwardly.
• Loving people in our community is an excellent thing to do--even if I do it messily.

Oh, how the enemy used to paralyze me with perfectionism. If I couldn't be the smartest, the best, or the fastest then I didn't want to play. How prideful is that?

Then I began to understand grace.

Grace opens the door so that humility can enter in, and finally, FINALLY, I am set free to do the things of God. I don't do them perfectly. I just do them, leaving the perfecting to Him.

"How do you do it?"

By grace and grace alone.

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