A GOOD WORK

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.  Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

In our comparison-heavy society, it is hard to be confident. Mustering up courage is a monumental feat. Standing your ground in knowing that God is true, faithful and for us, can be a challenge and we can succumb to the challenge more than we realize.

Not that we intentionally succumb, but we allow ourselves to entertain subtle lies from the enemy that erode our confidence in God.

How can we overcome? For starters, we can note the promises of God as we find them in Scripture and record them in an accessible place for when the doubts or lies creep in; we need to immerse ourselves in the Truth.

Once we have this going, we can begin to see what God is capable of and is already doing in our lives for His glory – one of those things is working good in us.  He is doing a good work in us. He is molding us and making us into the image of His Son. He is sloughing off the rough edges and causing us to shine more brilliant with His light.

He is allowing us to be a broken vessel so more light will shine through the cracks to reach more people - the people who need to hear how God is working through each of us. Our story may not be for everyone, but that is God’s decision – we need to be a willing vessel to let Him work in us and let Him be responsible for the rest.

I will admit being a broken vessel is painful – having recently gone through a long season of suffering for almost 5 long, intense, confusing at times, years.

Now on this side of it, I can say the brokenness was a two-sided gig. On one hand it became harder because the longer I was suffering the more I felt isolated, identified as an invalid, and the pain/inability to sleep/walk/do life was more than a challenge and a constant reminder of what I could and could not do.

New realities set in, old habits died hard and expectations went unmet or unnoticed.

The other side of the coin, so to speak, was sweet - I know it is an oxymoron to think of suffering as sweet, but, it is here we can see God masterfully creating good out of what we think is bad. For instance - my ability to empathize grew substantially. My capability to notice things, small things which I was too busy to notice before, came into focus. A rose, a tear, a comment, a reaction. I could respond in the moment if need be or I could give it the time it needed to go down deep.

God allows brokenness in us to shine His light brighter. It is when we are weak, He is strong in us. When we admit our weakness and boast about our weaknesses as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 –

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

It is when we admit our brokenness to a lost and hurting world that God can and will use our vulnerability to minister to others. 

Aren’t you more attracted to the one who is vulnerable, weak and honest?  Doesn’t the mere message of humility shine forth from one who recognizes God’s work and that this work is good? 

His work is good. It may be hard. Even excruciating, but it is good. Our loving Father calls it good. And if we look closely at Philippians 1:6 He is working in us. 

Circumstances can be quite difficult around us, but God will use them to do the good work in our hearts, minds, souls and strength. He is causing all things to work together for our good through Christ Jesus.

Can we say, along with Paul (this verse is the one directly following his statement about boasting):

That's why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV

It is at this place we begin to know Christ, the power of His resurrection and have fellowship in His sufferings. We begin to understand more of His purpose and will in our lives. It's a moment of sweet communion with God because we can see so much more clearly.

We can see, know and even feel that He is good and does good things for our good (Psalm 119:68, Romans 8:28). And He is working good in our hearts. That’s a lot of good. I happen to circle the word good every time I see it in my Bible because I want to see it and remember and be comforted in knowing His goodness is here for me.

With God working good in us, one fruit displayed by the Spirit is goodness (Galatians 5:22) pouring out for all to see. By walking in the Spirit and allowing God to have access to our hearts, we in turn can be used as a light with fruit demonstrating to others the good work He is doing in our lives. God is continuing this work and will not be done until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6)

What God has set out to do He will complete, and He will do this in His goodness.

PRAYER

Father God, thank You for being good. This is so reassuring in this topsy-turvy world because I can trust in Your faithfulness to be the same, always.  May I allow You to carry on the good work in my life and may I truly boast of my weaknesses and my brokenness so Your light will shine brighter to those around.  May my thoughts center on You and Your goodness and not on my brokenness – because I truly want all the glory to be Yours.  In the Name of Your Son, Jesus.  AMEN