Rocks In My Head: Rocks Series Part I

by Lydia Floren

I have struggled with perfectionism a long time. Perfectionism is based in the false idea “you must be perfect to be OK.”  This lie is embedded deep in my head, like a big rock surrounded by hard earth.  In order to dislodge it, I have to chip away at the dirt and debris that surrounds it. With a boulder like this, it can take persistent effort to get it out of my thought process.  But if I keep at it, sooner or later the rock will shift, and then shift a little more.  Eventually, it will loosen to the point that it just tumbles down the hill, and out of my life.  I experience a “paradigm shift”:  a sudden change in the way I look at the world.  It’s like a prism in the sun—when it turns, the light catches it at another angle, and a different color is revealed.  

So far, my struggle with perfectionism has been a slow process.  I’m not going to lie.  I’ve been chipping at this problem for a long while, and I would love for it to roll on out of my life RIGHT NOW. But so far it hasn’t.  

Truth seeps into my spirit, loosening the dirt.  Day by day, the rock shifts, often imperceptibly. It is not until I step back and see the big picture that I can truly appreciate the progress God has made over the years.  Slowly, steadily, He is dislodging this perfectionism lie from my life.

We all have big rocks in our heads, lies that have been ingrained in us for years. Some folks, like me,struggle with perfectionism.  Others have “boulders” of blame, or negativism, or materialism.  The process to extricate these lies can be arduous, because their tentacles wrap around many thought patterns.  All the more reason to keep at it, and to occasionally look back, and see how far we have come.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  John 8:32

What rocks do you carry in your life?  What truths is God using to dislodge those rocks?