Day 2647 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Philippians 1:6 NIV

Unfaltering. Unwavering. Unyielding. Our God will not quit. He will not stop. He will not give up on the work that He began in us. But we will. We try to quit all the time. We look for loopholes that allow for our desires and wishes to somehow fit into God's plans so that we don't have to change all that much or endure the radical transformation that leads to us living very different lives than the ones in which we've grown to find comfort. But still, through all our doubting and angling and trying to find the easy path through life, God is there to get us straight and reel us back in when our wandering hearts have started to wander a little too much.

As we've been discussing for a couple of days, God's plans for us are always for our good. But the problem is that we have a very distinct inability to always see them that way. How can illness or injury be for our good? How is it for our good to be hated by the world in which we're living? How is it for our good to be forced to do all this constant soul searching that leads to losing things or maybe even ending relationships? How is it good to be made aware of our flaws and weaknesses and the shame that they bring with them?

How is it good to undergo such intense and even painful testing? Because it makes us better. It makes us stronger. It burns away all that isn't up to the task of serving Christ so that we can focus in on building up our weaknesses into strengths. It helps us learn to rely on Him when our best isn't good enough. It gives us the chance to see first-hand that we can't make it without Him. It reminds us that we're not perfect, nor invincible, nor ingenious, nor immune to mistakes. And as painful and humbling as the road of faith that leads us through the refining fire may be, we need it more than we'd ever admit.

You see, we relish in this idea that we're good enough. We love this mindset that the world teaches people that allows them to believe they can do anything. We love this self-perceived idea of control and power and authority that swells our pride and boosts our ego up to this level where we think nothing can touch us and the very idea of weakness or flaw is so far beneath us that we need not ever consider it. That's why we need God's humbling guidance to help us see through the lies that we've long believed were truth.

And that's one of the best promises of this faith of ours. Once we open our hearts to admitting that we're not perfect and have plenty of room to grow and improve, and once we give God the chance to help us do so, we'll never reach the finish line. We will never be done. We will never find some place where everything is good enough and we can stop trying and stop focusing on what we need to do to continue growing in Christ. Our faith presents us with an indefinite opportunity for growth and advancement.

And when we make it our heart’s desire to know Him and make Him known, then we can be assured of the promise we have in this verse from Philippians. He will never stop helping us. He will never call it good enough. He will never quit refining us and helping us grow until the day that Christ returns and we're finally made whole in our eternal Home. The good work of sanctification is never ending on this side of eternity. And to me, that's the kind of goal that we should all be seeking. Not these simple hopes where we can hurry up and check them off. But goals that give us something to pursue every single day that we have left.

We have to break out of this desire for simplicity and this lie that something can be good enough. Our faith doesn't work like that, and trying to live as if it does will only lead us to relegating it to a mere hobby where we only really focus on it or think about it in times of trouble. Our faith ought to be the very air we breathe. It should be something that we work on every minute of every day. It should be as important to us as it is to God. He sent Christ to prove how much it means to Him. Why should be so willing to give up half-way?

Friends, I know that life isn't always good. And seeking out the weaknesses and flaws that we have only adds more weight and more work. But the thing that we need to always remember, especially when we're caught in the middle of the suck, is that there is better. There is more than what we often find ourselves settling for in life. There is more than good enough. There is the promise of eternal peace. But if we allow our hearts to give up when the going gets hard then we'll never be able to build the faith we need to make it to that eternal promise. All we'll have is some hollow hope in what could have been.

God will never give up on us, we just need to stop giving up on ourselves. We have to stop looking at our current circumstances and allowing them to beat us down. We have to quit thinking that we'll never make it because of how hard life is and how much harder faith can often be, because focusing on the difficulty only distracts us from the power we have in Christ to help lead the way. We can make it. We can change. We can grow. We can do better. And it will all be challenging. But God will always be there to help because He sees who we can become through His Son. We have to quit focusing on the weak versions we see and trust in His faithfulness to guide us all the way to the completion of His plans and promises for us.

His path leads us to promises that are far too amazing to miss. So please don't run away from faith when it gets hard. Use those rough times to encourage you to press in closer to Christ and you will come out the other side of every challenge you face along this journey better and stronger for having held tight to your faith and leaning on Christ to lead the way. Just remember that while it may hurt, may sting, may be harder than you ever imagine possible, it will all be worth it when we one day hear Him say, “Well done.”

#LeaveNoSoulUntold