Perfecting Till the End

When I was a kid playing baseball, I often wondered why it was so hard to hit the ball, to throw it harder, or to judge where a fly ball was going to land. I looked up to players like Ken Griffey Jr., Frank Thomas, and Nolan Ryan and I was nowhere near as good as they were. (For full disclosure, I never got to their status!) As I kept practicing and playing, I noticed something. The more I worked at it, the more time I put into the game, the longer I focused on improving in the fundamental aspects of the game the more my skill level improved. 

Often, we get upset because we are not as proficient at something as someone else, or as skilled at an area of life as we would like. This same mindset can transfer over to our discipleship. We wonder why we are not as wise as a saint of fifty years, or as resilient as someone else, or as compassionate as a grandmother. 

The truth is, there was a time when that wise man was not so wise, and that resilient person was not so resilient, and that grandmother was a little more impatient and unforgiving. But you know what? God kept working on them. He continued to place the unwise young man in situations where he had to keep returning to the Word of God to handle the tough situations God placed him into. God also provided that thirty-five year old who seems so resilient now with an extremely rough childhood where he learned to push through one step at a time. As for the compassionate grandmother, God allowed her to raise five children, one of whom had special needs. As she cared for those children God allowed her to learn compassion in ways we cannot comprehend. 

Do not get discouraged because you are not “there yet” spiritually. Remember Paul’s words to the Philippians,

“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” (Phil. 1:6). 

If you are in Christ, God has not and never will give up on you. You may not be where you want to be right now, but trust in the promise of God’s word and the processes of his providence. Know he will not stop working in you. He will continue to place you in situations, providentially provide you with circumstances, and allow you to be in places where you will be pushed, pulled, stretched, and strengthened to look more like Jesus. 

As my uncle used to say, “Keep on keeping on.” God has got you and he will never let you go. Trust in him, rely on his word, and you will one day be all that Christ desires.

God Bless,

Brad