Completely Confident

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

Sometimes when I read this verse, my attention goes immediately to the aspect of completion. I begin thinking about all the reasons why things that I do should work out simply because I believe that God is backing me up on them. I fail to realize that completion does not come about by my own doing. The operative word in this verse is "he". He who began a good work will carry it to completion

I am humbled as I see that completion is not dependent on anything that I do or don't do. God will fulfill his purpose for my life, and that may or may not directly involve the actions I decide to undertake of my own volition. God has put me on earth for a specific purpose--his purpose. It is my responsibility to be obedient to him and to respond to his call, but it is not up to me to plot my course. God's work will be completed in me and it is he who oversees that work.

God has a way of bringing about the means as well as the ends of everything that happens. In thinking about that, I am also reminded of Proverbs 3:5-6 which says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. "

This doesn't mean, of course that, that we can just sit back and take a passive role as we wait for God's work to be done. The active role we undertake is anything that involves seeking out God's will. As we spend time with God, we need to carefully weigh out actions against God's will. We must learn to discern which of our pursuits and desires are worldly, and which are Christ-centered. When we find ourselves chasing after meaningless, mundane things, we are living outside of God's will. If we want God's best for our lives, we need to leave everything completely up to him.

God is in charge of all aspects of our walk with him, including all the things that need to happen in order to make sure we arrive at our final destination. Even when we make mistakes, his plan can be carried out. We can rest assured that God's plan for our lives will have some wonderful blessings, even if they are not immediately visible. When we leave everything up to him, we can be completely confident to know that he always bring things to completion at their proper times.