Perfection And Obedience

“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is is lovingkindness toward those who fear him…”


“True whole faith is better than sacrifice.”

There are days when I look at my life and see all the big mistakes I’ve made. The past weighs me down like a ball and chain. Today should look bright but I’m blinded to it. Despite my past God continuously restores ‘what the locusts have eaten.’

During the implosion of my previous marriage as well as the days afterward I sought to do what God wanted me to. In part I did the right things because they were right. Greater still I tried to do right because I took pleasure in the joy that flowed from God into my life.

When I started dating Valerie we were both seeking what God desired. We even evaluated our relationship in terms of God’s rules for remarriage. Up to and through the dating process we tried to listen to God.

We ended up getting married. We are into year two of a marriage that is rewarding and soul-satisfying. I have friends that say, “It’s great that you did all the right things. You deserve it.” Know what though? My life wasn’t a hundred percent perfect after the first marriage blew up. Val and I didn’t walk into our marriage in perfect holiness and perfection. We sinned along the way yet God did not deal with us accordingly.

All along the way God dealt with us (and is dealing with us) as a loving father that gives not because we are perfect. Certainly our hearts desire matters. Still He gives because He is a loving father. Father’s give the best they have to their children because they are their children. So it is with God. We deserve the devastation of locusts but He has redeemed all of our days.