DEVOTIONAL: Philippians 1:6

 

"He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ".

This Bible verse is special to me, specifically the last part of it but lets start at the beginning. 

"He who has begun a good work in you" - God knew us before we entered this world. He had a plan for us from our inception. He has always wanted us to be more like Him and will put challenges and achievements on our path so that we may see His hand and ultimately use it to glorify Him. We were born into purpose and each day we are on this beautiful Earth God is using our life experiences to shape us into the people He has called us to be from the minute He thought the world needed us. 

Although God wants us to be like Him, He knows our human nature, that we are fallible and sinful. Despite this, He does not give up on us - how thankful we should be! Even when we fall short of the people God has called us to be, He continues to work on us, moulding us into the people we are supposed to be. It's a process but thankfully God is patient. As long as we as Christians accept the Lord, we will be free of condemnation. 

"will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" - there is a beginning and an end. God begins to work in us, this is where the plan is in its inception. For the duration of our lives He continually works in us, moulding us into who we are supposed to be and by the time we die, His work will be complete. God holds the beginning and end of time in His hands. He knows where we will start and He knows when we will finish. When our time on Earth is up it is because we have done all we were called to do, even though it may not align with our plans for our life or what others thought we still had to achieve. God is the ultimate planner and He decides. 

Accepting that God holds the beginning and end of time in His hands is to relinquish control - it is to realise that we are not in control of the time in our hour glass and that is very hard. I lost my mom at the age of 11. When I realised she was ill I pleaded with God to keep her with us until I finished school, she passed a month later - my time was not Gods. Her work was done. 

Two years ago I lost a cousin, 24 years old. She was a mother to the most beautiful girl. Her passing made no sense to me. I questioned God - why? what about her daughter? she was so young? she too had lost her mom at a young age, why was God allowing her daughter to experience the same pain? I really was so angry with God. On the anniversary of her death I read this Bible verse. After being angry at God for so long, I finally understood and felt the peace that her siblings and other members of our family felt much earlier than I did - it was her time to go. Acceptance, finally. Even though her passing didn't make sense to me, this Bible verse made it clear to me that God's work in her life was complete, no matter what I thought or believed she still had to do, her purpose, the very purpose God put her onto this Earth for, was met. 

I think this is something we can all relate to, when someone close to us passes, it's often hard to accept, whether we knew it was coming or not.

Let this be a reminder that our time is not God's time, He holds time in His hands, we are not in control. Let us then live with purpose. Let us be kind and pursue what God has laid on our hearts, let us ask God to lead us to our purpose, to reveal to us what it is He wants us to do on this Earth. This morning, let's give thanks for His grace, mercy and the renewed blessings each day. 

Amen.