Every morning while driving my daughter to school, we pass through two major construction zones. One, a road project, could eventually shorten our commute time to school. The other, a fulfillment center for a major online retailer could provide quicker delivery of items I order online.
While I look forward to potential conveniences these projects promise, they prove quite inconvenient in the here and now. Every morning includes an obstacle course driving through construction barrels, around dump trucks, and away from reckless drivers. But, to enjoy the benefits of tomorrow, I must endure the construction of today.
Spiritual Construction
Our morning commute to school provides an important spiritual reminder: we are all works in progress, spiritual construction zones. The Bible teaches that followers of Jesus become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). However, this transformation does not happen automatically, but incrementally.
Paul assured the Christians in Philippi, and us of this important fact.
And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
– Philippians 1:6
From this we learn three encouraging truths.
God HAS BEGUN a work in your life.
I don’t know where you are in the construction process, but you ARE under construction. It maybe that you are not yet a follower of Jesus. But the fact that you are reading this today may be God’s way of BEGINNING that work in you.
Or possibly you are already a Jesus follower. At some point in your past God began the work in you.
God IS DOING a work in your life.
Your life is not the product of a random series of unrelated circumstances. You are a work under construction. Things happen to you each day by God’s design. You experience no coincidences. Nothing is never happening, God is always doing something.
What seem like interruptions to your day could be divine appointments sent by God to further your construction. The blessings you experience came not by your own doing but from God’s hand to enhance your spiritual formation.
God WILL FINISH what He has started in your life.
God is not improvising a plan for your life. He works intentionally. A good construction project has both a desired outcome and plan for achieving it. Likewise, God has a goal in mind for your life and He is methodically moving you closer to His goal. We find His plan for all of us in Paul’s words to the Roman Christians.
For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. – Romans 8:29
God’s eventual outcome for your life is to make you like Jesus. And He will continue working on that project until He brings it to completion. He will declare us a finished project when we get to heaven. The Apostle John tells us,
Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure. – 1 John 3:2-3
Our Role in the Construction Project
Make no mistake, God is the wise master-builder. He does the work and we reap the benefit. But we should not live in oblivion. If we live aware of His activity, we hasten His work in our lives.
Look for God’s hand at work around you. Learn to view the events of your day as moments of divine interaction and intervention. Accept nothing as coincidental nor inconsequential.
Listen for God voice speaking to you. Let the Holy Spirit speak through His Word and prepare you for the events of your day. Let the Word shape you and inform you. The events of your day then become exercises that reinforce what He has said to you.
Learn about God and His activity in your life. Watch for patterns of God’s activity. Learn how He speaks and how He moves around you. Let the experiences of your life reveal God’s character and purposes to you.
One day, the God will declare you a finished project. Until then, keep looking, listening, and learning.