Saturday, March 1, 2014

Work In Progress

Do you know anyone who is good at starting projects but never completes them
  • School
  • Building projects
  • Diets
  • Hobbies
  • Network Marketing
  • Crafts
  • Special interests
  • Job after job
  • Relationships, etc.

They start off with zeal and high hopes but something hinders and/or altogether stops them.  The reasons can vary, but there is one thing for sure, they are the common denominator to their destructive behavior, whether that behavior is passive or aggressive.

My thought for today is: Work in Progress

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; (Philippians 1:6 NKJV)

Confident: having strong belief or full assurance, sure of oneself, having no uncertainty about one's own abilities, correctness, successfulness, bold, presumptuous.

Work:  exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.

Complete: having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full: finished; thorough; entire; total; undivided, or unmodified.

Work in Progress

Consider this:  a couple falls madly in love with each other, they get married, rent living space for a couple of years as they strategically plan and save for the future.  They start looking for a home, not just any home, but one that will allow them to expand as they begin to start their family.  Pricing is important, but so is the safety of the neighborhood, school district, nearby parks, etc.  They find what they believe is the perfect home.  They get pregnant, have their first baby.  They have planned for the new mom to stay home for the first five years of the new child's life and though things are a little tight every need is met. 

We know that there are couples that prepare for their children, however, those plans fails in comparison to the way God prepared for us.  I don't want to get to deep, but think about this:  your parents had to meet (whatever that looked like); have sex at least once; your moms egg and just the right sperm from your father allowed for conception and you developed full term in your mothers womb. 
Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

Let’s go a little deeper.  Before you were conceived, God gave you instructions for life, equipped you with the stamina, resolve, determination, fight, stick-to-it-ness, gifts and talents.  He literally customized you.  Think about this, no two people have the same fingerprint, voiceprint, retinal identity or DNA.  It’s not an accident that you do what you do as well as you do it because YOU are not an accident. I’m not trying to be insensitive but I need you to get this.  YOU are here for a purpose. You custom designed with the gifts and talents to carry out the assignment God chose for you.  Even if you are “ab-using“ the gifts/talents He gave you, not “using” them to the best of your ability” or using them at all.  God’s plan began to unfold well before you were born on the day He selected, not the medical professionals anticipated “due date”.  He has been orchestrating our footsteps, allowing us to stumble, get back up; fall, get back up; hit and miss; run and hide; hit our heads against the proverbial brick wall and then finally gather the courage to say yes to Him "drawing" us back into fellowship with Him.
Jehovah appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV)

While some of us may have been born out of unfortunate circumstances, YOU ARE NOT A MISTAKE.  YOU ARE NOT A MISFIT.  YOU ARE LOVED.  YOU ARE WANTED.  YOU ARE NEEDED.  YOU WERE MADE ON PURPOSE FOR PURPOSE.  YOU ARE APPRECIATED, BECAUSE I love you and I appreciate you.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. (Psalms 139:14 NKJV)
It is so much deeper than this but hopefully you get the picture.

God didn't: Send His son Jesus to die for our sins, save us and bring us back into fellowship with Him only to abandon us, forcing us to figure out how to live a Godly life on our own.  What would be the point of Jesus suffering such a cruel and torturous death if we were going to ultimately fail because we had no guidance?
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

God didn't: Spare our lives, protect us; heal us; allow us to survive, deliver us from . (you fill in the blank) to leave us. We can be CONFIDENT, presume, know for a fact, that what God started when He selected us to live for Him (so we could teach others the same); He is going to complete. God has invested far too much in us because He loves us more than we will ever know or comprehend. 

Quitting is not an option; because if you quit, you won't win
We can't fail, because we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us
It's not time to die because we just started living

You're a Work In Progress.  Stop being so hard on yourself.  Relax and enjoy the journey

In His Humble Excellence

Tan

No comments:

Post a Comment