We were on holiday when I was attempting to help my husband reverse a large camper van. As he sat in the driving seat, I stood to one side, waving my arms with far more confidence than competence, and very nearly directed him off the edge of a steep cliff.
We were on holiday when I was attempting to help my husband reverse a large camper van. As he sat in the driving seat, I stood to one side, waving my arms with far more confidence than competence, and very nearly directed him off the edge of a steep cliff.
My intentions were excellent. My judgement about angles, distances and imminent danger - less impressive.
He started following my directions. Then he stopped, a thought clearly dawning on him. This is a man who trusts me in all sorts of areas - with family dilemmas, big decisions, difficult conversations.
But when it came to reversing near the cliff edge, he quite sensibly realised he might need to stop listening to me and work it out for himself.
As a result, we both got to live another day.
What struck me afterwards was not just that I’m hopeless at guiding camper vans. It was how instinctively I expected myself to be more capable than I am – more rounded, more practical, more able to turn my hand to most things. It turns out that some personal expectations can be a bit unrealistic
In the Qur’an, the book Muslims turn to for guidance, God is known through many beautiful names - such as the most Merciful, the Wise, the Protector, the Just. These are qualities that belong fully to God.
Now I may manage a little patience on a good day. Some compassion. Even occasionally some wisdom. But I can’t possibly be all things at once. And perhaps that isn’t failure. Perhaps it is simply part of being human, or, as I’d put it, part of being created rather than being the Creator.
These days, I’m starting to see my limits less as a weakness and more as my saving grace. They remind me I don’t have to be good at everything. I’m allowed to lean on the gifts of others as well as my own. After all, as I need God, I think I need other people too.
And so I lean on my friends who brings calm when I’m stressed. On my colleagues who sees clearly what I’ve missed. And on the husband whose practical judgement, particularly near cliff edges, is fortunately rather better than mine.
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