I love painting my nails.
I love painting them with vibrant colours and soft pastel hues. I love transforming something ordinary into something colourful and beautiful. And I find it really relaxing and satisfying and indulgent - if only for 10 minutes.
But the problem with painting your nails is that pretty soon after you are done, they smudge or chip or flake. Even if the nail varnish claims to be 'fast-drying' or 'chip-resistant' or 'hard-wearing'. Unless you don't use your hands at all after you have painted your nails, you can pretty much guarantee that they are going to chip.
And when they're chipped, they never look as good. Yes, there's still a trace of the colour left and a trace of your effort in painting them, but it almost looks worse than if you hadn't painted them at all.
And then there's the question of whether you keep painting over the chips and filling in all of the blank bits, or just surrender to fate and wipe it all away.
In the same way, I sometimes find when I start something new and it fails, or doesn't go the way I want it to, I'm faced with the question of whether to keep painting over the cracks, or to wipe away every trace of my trying.
I don't want people to see the cracked, chipped, messy bits - I want to paint over them and keep up a perfect appearance.
But that is neither real, nor possible.
I wrote yesterday about life - real life - being messy and far from the perfection that so many of us chase. In the same way, when I paint my nails, I would love for them to stay perfect and unchipped, but it's not a real reflection of life.
Paul writes in Corinthians about an occasion where he prayed to ask God to remove something from his life, which he felt was a weakness - an imperfection:
"He [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
[2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV]
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Instead of never painting my nails, or frantically repainting over the cracks and chips every time they appear, I will continue to paint my nails and enjoy the colour they bring. But when they chip and flake, I will be reminded of my weaknesses and the fact that I don't need to hide them or cover them up. And I will be reminded of the fact that I am not perfect. And that is a good thing.
For His power is made perfect in my imperfect weakness.
