Have you ever driven by a building that is under construction? When you first see it starting off it just looks like a big mess. You got scaffolding every where, unfinished walls, piles of dirt, and things just scattered everywhere! Not only that, but sometimes we say to ourselves, “when is this ever going to be finished?? On the outside it looks a bit crazy, but to the master builder, everything is going according to plan. He is not bothered by the mess. Why? Because the builder has the blueprint. The builder knows exactly what it is supposed to look like when it’s finished. What looks like a mess now will one day become a masterpiece.
That is exactly how it feels in our life at times. We look at ourselves and see all the unfinished parts of our life: we see our mistakes, our past, our struggles, our fears, we look at these things and think to ourselves, “I should be further along by now.”
However, thanks be to God that while you and I see a mess, God sees a masterpiece in the making. Because He is the Master Builder, He sees the end result. Things may seem crazy right now. Things may look like a mess when you look at all of the unfinished projects in your life. However, God is unbothered by the incomplete construction zones of you life. Why? Because God has the blueprint! He knows the end from the beginning. He knows exactly what it is supposed to look like when it is finished to God, everything is going according to plan. While we see a construction zone, God sees the completion.
Here is the best part: no matter the situation, God does not leave any projects unfinished. If He starts something, He is going to finish. Similarly, if God started something in you, He is not going to walk away.
That should be encouraging because we many times imagine that God is upset with us or that we are not good enough to be considered God’s child. However, that is fear speaking, not the truth. If God began something in you, He is not going to walk away until it is complete!
The truth is that everyone here is in a process; everyone here is a work in progress. We are all clay in he hands of the potter who is molding and shaping our lives for His glory. You are not who you used to be! However, you are yet who God is shaping you to be. Amen!
This is the reason why Paul was able to write to the Philippians confidently and to tell them this:
Philippians 1:6 - “Being confident of this… He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
In order to really get a better glimpse of this verse, we need to zero in on the people within the Philippian church.
In verse 3, Paul said that he was praying for the them and that he was thankful for them. Why? Because they had partnered with him in the gospel, while he was in prison. Many people supported Paul, but when he was taken to prison, they all pulled back their support in fear. Nevertheless, the Philippian church did not back away but instead backed him even more. They understood that he was in chains for Christ. They stood with Paul all the way through.
Now that sounds like some stand up people! Sounds like people who have it all together! However, they were far from being perfect:
•
Lydia — A successful business woman (pretty good)
• The Jailer — A “failure” who almost took his own life
• The Slave Girl — The girl in Philippi who was demon possessed (Acts 16). We do not know if she actually joined this church or not, but we do know that God set her free from the kingdom of darkness. There is a good chance she attended.
• Divided Church — The Philippians were a mix of people (wealthy, working class, slaves, jews, gentiles, etc) who were at times divided amongst one another.
As I said, they were not perfect.
Some would say that they were far from being perfect. However, that did not
phase Paul one bit, nor did it phase God. Similarly, God is not phased at our
imperfections. It doesn’t bother God when you are still trying to figure it out
in areas of your life and it seems to be taking you longer than others. Thank
God! But why? The answer is found in the text:
1. God Began the Work in You
“He who began a good
work in you…”
The Bible says that if you have
placed your faith in Jesus and if you have repented of your sin to follow Him,
today you are born again. You are a believer in Jesus Christ! However, you are
not the reason that you born again. There is nothing that you did to make
salvation possible! That was all God.
•
God the Father is
the one who sent His only son to die in your place.
•
Jesus the Son is
the one who died on the cross to pay for the penalty of your sin.
•
God is the one
who gave you the faith to believe.
•
God the Holy
Spirit is the one who drew you to Himself hear about Christ and to want to
follow Him.
•
God is the one
who did the work!
•
Philippians
2:12-13 — “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God
who works in you, both to will and to work for his
good pleasure.”
•
In other words,
God is the one who gives you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases
Him! It’s not you, it is Him! That is both humbling and encouraging. It is
humbling because it makes you realize that you cannot do anything apart from
Him (neither did Jesus). But it is also encouraging because it means that it is
not all on you!
God is the one who began the work in you!
•
Before you and I
ever reached out for Christ, He had already made a way fro you through Christ.
You and I were far from God. Sin had separated us from Him. Yet, through the
atoning death of Jesus Christ, you and I have been brought near to God!
•
2
Corinthians 5:21— “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God.”
•
The work God
began in you was purchased by the work Jesus finished for you.
But God didn’t save you just to leave you where as He found you…
2.
God
is Still Working
“…will carry it on…”
Not only did God begin the work, but
He is continuing to work in your life. He is going to carry on the work that He
started in you. God knows the end from the beginning. He is the one who started
the work in you and he knows what it needs to look like in the end.
The Philippians were still growing themselves. While they were a strong church,
Paul understood that they still needed the grace of God in their lives. They
still dealt with conflict between one another and they still needed humility
with his they interacted. Paul understood that they were still under
construction.
The whole point of a construction zone is not to leave it the way it is. The
goal is to bring to to its completion. We should never be okay with where we
are at in our walk with Christ. You are not meant to stay in your struggles,
shortcomings, fears, etc. Instead, the goal is for your life to move closer and
closer to its completion every day. That doesn’t happen without the master
builder being involved. He has the blueprint and knows exactly what end result
looks like. Similarly, you can’t do it without God leading you along the way.
God uses:
•
His Word
•
The Holy Spirit
•
Other believers
•
Prayer
•
Trials &
hardship
•
Etc
•
God is not
finished with you, but He is not finished changing you either.
3.
God
Will Finish the Work
“…will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
What God began, He will finish. God is not like us. He does not start something
and then lose interest halfway through. He does not begin a work in your life
and then walk away because the process gets too difficult. He already knows
every part of the process, every weakness He will have to work through, every
area that still needs to change, and every season of difficulty. None of it
surprises Him. He began the work knowing exactly what it would take to bring it
to completion.
You and I see a mess, but God sees a masterpiece in the making. One day He is
going to compete that masterpiece in your life. One day you will no longer be
under construction; you will be perfected! One day God is going to complete
that work on the day of Jesus Christ. You and I will be glorified and we will
be with the Lord! That is encouraging.
1 John 3:2 — “We
know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he
is.”
So when you look at the unfinished areas of your life, do not assume that God
has given up on you. He has not abandoned the project. He is still working, and
He has already promised too complete the job.
God finishes what He starts, and you are no different.
4.
So
Be Confident
“Being confident of this…”
Notice that Paul doesn’t say being confident of yourself, being confident of
your track record, or your ability to keep it all together. Paul’s confidence
was not rooted in their personal abilities at all, but in the divine
faithfulness of God.
When you look at a building under construction, you don’t put your trust in the
scaffolding to bring the job to completion. Instead, you put your confidence in
the builder of the project. You and I can only see the current phase of our
life, God sees the final product.
Because God is the One who began the work, because He is still working, and
because He will finish what He started, you and I have a reason to be confident
about our walk in Christ. Why? Because God is the
one who is responsible for completing the work of salvation in your life. This
truth should do three things for your life:
•
Silence
the voice of condemnation — When
satan points at the mess in your life and whispers in your ear that you are a
failure, or that God is done with you, your faith should be anchored in what
God is doing in your life, not in what you can do.
•
Be
patient with yourself — You can stop
beating yourself up for not being a “finished masterpiece” overnight. You don’t
need to compare your race with someone else’s. With you, God is focused on you.
Trust the master builder in your life.
• Give grace to others — When you realize that everyone else around you is a work in progress, you stop demanding perfection from your co-workers, spouse, kids, church family, and others. You might see their scaffolding, you might see their dirt piles, but trust that God is at work in their life as well. Give them the grace you want others to show toward you.
If you're sitting here feeling
discouraged by the construction zone of your life, I want to encourage you to
hand the blueprint back to the Builder. Stop trying to finish yourself in your
own strength, stop panicking over the unfinished parts, and trust the God who
promised He will bring it to completion. Follow His instructions and simply do
what He says. He will work it out and eventually bring you to completion.
TAKEAWAYS
1.
You
are a work in progress
2.
God
is right there with you
3.
He
will finish what He started
