“…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion (be faithful to complete it) until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 1:6

Who’s doing the work? God, our Father—not us! Yes, we do “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” –Phil.2:12, but it’s the Lord who enables us to do that! As it goes on to say to complete the sentence— “for it is God who works in [us] to will and to act according to His good purpose.” Think of it as a tow rope on a ski-slope. We hold on to Him and He brings us “up” to spiritual and emotional maturity. We don’t have to walk up, yet neither do we just sit there passively as in a chair

It’s also a good thing it’s Him doing the work and not me or someone else. When we need a job done, call in the expert! For car trouble, call a mechanic. For lighting issues, call an electrician, and so on. The Lord is the expert on us and our issues. He has both the competence and character to mature us spiritually, emotionally, and relationally. He’s faithful—we can count on Him—let Him! Go to Him!

I know, it can feel so slow, like we’re so behind, so hopeless, so “what’s wrong with me that I’m not ‘there’ yet?”, so “Why’s it taking so long to overcome this same old sin, gain maturity in this area?” But don’t give up on ourselves or on Him! We have three reasons to be encouraged:

1) Even Paul, role model, champion church planter, writer of most the New Testament, confessed “Not that I have already obtained it, this goal of being Christlike, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Phil. 3:12) This hero of the faith even admitted to having the same kind of struggle with besetting sin that we do—not doing better even though he knew better and wanted to do better!

“For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Rom. 7:18-19

So, if we’re struggling with doing what we know is wrong and not doing what we know is right, we’re in good company, as in Paul and everyone else! Thankfully we all have the same assurance Paul went on to express about this: “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1) While He doesn’t condone sin, He doesn’t condemn us.

2) The Lord, the trustworthy one, has begun and will get it done—He thought we’re worth his time and effort and important enough to work on. And, since He’s faithful, He finishes what He starts. People, including ourselves, often don’t. We get lazy, distracted, discouraged, tired, run out of resources, etc.

This reminds me of when we lived overseas—in that country, much-needed deliverables often languished, as those waiting for completion were told “it’s in process”. What that really meant was the people who were supposed to get it done either couldn’t, wouldn’t, or didn’t want to because it wasn’t their while because the person waiting wasn’t worth their time and effort. But He’s limitless in power, love, and know-how, so even though we’re “in process”, we are also progressing toward the goal!

3) “…until the day of Christ Jesus”—While we’d love to have perfect maturity in Christ yesterday, there’s no deadline on Project Us— we’ve got our whole lives for Him to finish what He started. Again, this doesn’t mean just be passive or complacent about sin in our lives. But it does remove any shame or hopelessness we feel about ourselves for already being the age we are or Christian for so long and still not “there” yet!

After I’d been a believer for a whole month, I felt very discouraged because I wasn’t perfect yet. Because I still had problems and still sinned, I wondered if there was something wrong with me that the Lord couldn’t or hadn’t done the work— I really believed that once we become Christians, He wipes out all our sins and “voila”, total maturity! Provided we’re worthy and the “right” material. Sure, it sounds funny now, over 40 years later, to think anyone could attain total maturity in Him after a month! But what about a year? 10 years? 40 years? Even more? When are we beyond hope if it hasn’t happened yet? The Lord says, “Never!”

Hab. 2:3—“though the vision tarries, wait for it. It will surely come.” If our vision for ourselves is God’s vision, He’ll make it happen. He keeps His promises! Don’t give up—even when the “work in progress” doesn’t seem to be making any progress!