“Faith is a verb described as a noun.” ~ William Backus

I was sitting there on my bed, tethered to the wall — unable to freely move around the house — by an iPhone charger. Hubby and I had finally tucked the kids in for the night when he walked over to me as I was checking email on my phone.

“What are you doing, sitting here by yourself? Come hang out in the living room with me. We can read together.” Eric asked.

“I lost my 10-foot power cord. So, I have to wait here while it charges on this short one. Doing some email. I’ll come down in a bit.” I explained.

“Uh. Honey, don’t you know . . . your phone will charge a lot faster if you don’t use it? You’re draining the energy while it’s trying to recharge.”

This was an ah-ha moment for me. Because my phone isn’t the only thing that’s being used and drained.

My heart needs to be recharged with God’s love.

God has put some ideas on my heart, inspiring me to move forward in a new direction. But I’ve been draining the inspiration with fear instead. Paralyzed by analyzing the what-ifs.

As I put the phone down to let it recharge and go relax with Hubby downstairs, I realize what’s holding my heart back: perfectionism. I’m afraid of making a mistake. I’m afraid I’ll regret what I did or didn’t do.

Perfectionism tethers us back. It robs our heart’s freedom.

I needed to rest in God’s love for me — and relax into this journey — rather than try to eradicate the critical voices that hold me back.

Do you find perfectionism holding you back on the journey of faith too?

A Journey, Not a Test

One of the biggest traps I often fall into is the notion that I can get rid of perfectionism.

If only I had more confidence in myself . . .
If only I could let go of the past . . .
If only I trusted God more . . .
If only . . .

All this if-only thinking accomplished only one thing:  distance between my heart and God’s touch.

I’ve been waiting for me to be better.

But, what if God is longing to take us on a journey, not for us to be perfect, but to be changed — because He is with us?

God’s love is not a test of our faith, but a journey to experience His faithfulness to us. This journey requires we let go of the lies we believe and relax into God’s love and let His voice be the one voice we follow today.

How can our hearts break free?

5 Whispers to Set Your Heart Free

I began to feed on God’s love by taking extra time to recharge my heart with God in spiritual whitespace. As I let the quiet speak, I heard the sweetest whispers set my heart free from the Top 5 Lies of Imperfection…. (to be continued)

…To read the rest of the story, click here to join me over at DaySpring’s (in)courage site, where today’s post is published.

Pause. Get soul refreshed.  Join me there.  I’d love your company.