Work in Progress
“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
One of the most encouraging promises in all of Scripture is in our verse for today. God is still working on our lives and character. We are a work in progress.
Whenever I watch a pottery demonstration, I am struck by how much it reflects our lives as disciples of Jesus. God takes a simple, brown lump of clay. In His hands the clay becomes something beautiful and useful. It takes on a whole new form, shape and function. This is what Jesus does with a human life.
Simple, unformed and often broken, our lives are transformed in Jesus’ hands. He doesn’t look for greatness, talent or pedigree. He takes us in our sinful, weak and broken condition and places us on His potter’s wheel. Over time, in His hands, we begin to become people we never knew we could be.
The Father’s goal: to conform us to the image of His Son. He wants us to love like Jesus loved. To care like Jesus cared. To serve like Jesus cared. To forgive like He forgave. He created us to point others to the love of our Father God. This is the purpose of His work on life’s wheel. He is not aimless or random in this potters work. He knows what He is building and He will complete it.
Another beautiful aspect of this picture is that He makes no two pieces alike. He has a unique and beautiful shape and purpose for each of our lives. He fashions us in a way so that we can fulfill the unique function and design He created us for. This is very comforting and encouraging to me.
Every small part of our development is in His hands. Every trial we face is another turn on the wheel through which we grow and are shaped more into the image of Jesus. Sometimes the hardest and most painful times of our lives are when His loving hands are closest to us: holding us steady, centering us, and molding us into stronger and more compassionate vessels.
What I love the most about the pottery image is that He is still working on me. I make so many mistakes along the way. I forget things I should remember. I worry about things I should let go. I lose focus and waste time and energy on lesser things. To err is to be human. But I am not alone.
In His capable hands, we can have confidence that God’s not finished with us yet. Our progress is in His hands. The final result is in His care. The finished product will be His masterpiece. He is in control. He is our Master and our Maker.
He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. Rest in that today, my friend. Trust in His work in your life. Be confident of this very thing: He is working, He loves you and He knows what He is doing. Amen to that!!!