God’s not finished with Me Yet!

I wish my testimony was one of unwavering faith and steadiness.  I wish that you could talk to anyone who knew me during the early years of my life and they would tell you about my commitment to the Gospel and my obvious love for Jesus.  Sadly, I didn't respond to God's call on my life until 1996.  From that time on there are many people who would tell you of my love for Jesus and my commitment to the Gospel.  But many who knew me during the earlier years of my life wouldn’t, because they’ve seen me fall into sin and act prideful.

In fact, I’d bet that many of us are this way.  We wish that we could have another chance at past situations or seasons.  These were my thoughts prior to writing this.  Pretty grim way to spend an afternoon, right?   But here was God’s answer to my anxiety and self-disappointment, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

I’m not finished, He is still molding and shaping me, and conforming me to Jesus’ likeness.  Romans 8:29 tell us, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

In 2 Corinthians 3:18, the apostle Paul reminds us that we Christians, who anticipate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image.  He said, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  Too often, we use the fact that we are struggling with something God is doing in our lives as an excuse for our behavior.

As I understand it, this is a work which begins at the moment we confess Jesus as Savior and submit to His Lordship of our lives, and is only completed when we meet Him face to face.  Until that day the Lord is working on us, in us, and through us, making us more like Himself.

I can't help but think that, with me at least, the Lord has quite a job on His hands!  I take comfort in the assurance from scripture that nothing is too difficult for God, and also from the verse we began with, which says that He will complete the work He has started.

As the Lord prepares us for an eternity with Him, I sometimes wonder if it makes things more difficult for Him and for us, when we are unwilling to surrender to His way, His word, and His will.  It's at these times of struggle that we are more likely to behave in an ungodly way.  It is then that we may try to excuse ourselves with “I am a work in progress.”  The fact is, that we are all under the hand of God in that respect, and none of us are a finished work!

When work is carried out on a street, or in a house, a lot is done (or should be) to make the site and surrounding area safe for those doing the work and for those passing by.  When we are aware that the Lord is dealing with an issue in our lives and we are struggling with it, rather than lashing out, hurting and endangering others in the process, we ought to ask the Lord for His grace, and the power and protection of His Spirit, to help us handle the situation in a Godly way.

Even with our lives surrendered to God, we’re still going to make mistakes.  And when we mess up, we need to humbly come before God and allow Him to lead us once again.