I have been giving a lot of thought over the past couple of days to how we as "modern Christians" possibly sabotage, neglect, or abort what God had in mind for us to do because we live in a results/success orientated world, and everything has to be accomplished at such great speed.
He gives us spiritual gifts that enable us to begin or establish something, e.g. prayer house, mercy work, group, community work, a business venture......etc.
As He blesses what He ordained we get excited, ambitious, proud, over-confident with the current success. The result of this can be franchises as others view the results, invitations to speak and excite and encourage others, even decisions to fund raise to keep it going, forgetting His instructions in Philippians 1:6
"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus".
Sometimes we have only done the preparatory work in bringing this to birth, get excited about the baby, and forget that it now has to be nurtured and watched over as it grows and learns to walk, talk, become independent!
Sometimes we have only done the preparatory work in bringing this to birth, get excited about the baby, and forget that it now has to be nurtured and watched over as it grows and learns to walk, talk, become independent!
If God began it HE will carry it forward and ensure that it continues! We often forget the 'forward' part and camp out at the current point of growth, seeing it as completion. Instead of using His gifts to continue in the work, quietly obedient and caught in heaven's flow, suddenly we are being carried along by human excitement, demands and values. We shift off the intended course and purpose and lose sight of, or worse still, lose completely what God intended. If we franchise what is good but incomplete and intended for us to serve Him in the place He gave us, we have sold off half of a good thing - it's a kind of robbery!
There are always adjustments and changes when a new baby arrives, but the core of the family remains the same just adjusting to the changes in dynamics that expansion dictates. I wonder how much has been missed or sold short because we got excited at the half way point and didn't continue on making room for more to be added on the way to completion?
Good things, like good wine, take time to mature and deepen in quality. Can we allow God to continue to use our lives and gifts as He knows He always intended to?
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God created in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Let's be faithful in the call and gift as long as he wants us there. Quietly hidden in Him until He leads or calls us elsewhere. HE is ABLE to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. Ephesians 3:20
Let's quietly and confidently embrace what is before us today, knowing that He can and will provide all we need, and that all the glory and success is His alone.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
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