I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6
I love how Paul can string a few words together in one sentence that can capture layers of meaning that not only go deep, but stretch across time. This verse is one of those that arches over a great span. It starts at one point, goes high, and then comes down again in a new place. Think rainbows or the arch in St. Louis.
Each word in this verse is loaded. Paul is the one who is confident. He is confident in God, and he is confident in God’s ability to do what he says he will do. God begins a work, then it grows. He sustains both the work and the growth until Jesus returns.
Paul sees this truth working itself out in individual people as well as in the community. God has a purpose for each life. He also has a purpose for each group of people.
On God’s growth plan, we will outgrow roles or perspectives. In order to move into the next stage of growth God has designed for us, we must let go of the place where we’ve been, the attitudes we’ve held, and maybe even the networks we’ve depended on.
These points of growth happen repeatedly over the course of a person’s life. They can feel like stepping from a canoe to a motorboat in the middle of a lake on a windy day. Easy to lose your balance. Nothing to hold onto. The perfect conditions for rough, shaky transitions.
But God is faithful. Paul reminds us that God will carry the work onto completion. No matter how many times you fall, God will help you get back up again. He will make sure you get where you need to go.
His work has a master design to it, and it is on a schedule that he has set. Disruptions and surprises cannot throw it off course. God will accomplish the plan for which your life was created. Nothing will get in the way.
What is the good work God has begun in you? Are you a teacher, an artist, a writer, or an apostle? Does the life you are leading today feel far removed from where you thought you were going? God has a way of using all of our circumstances and all of our decisions for his glory. Take a good look around you. The work God is doing in your life might be bursting from a recent disappointment, a wall of reality you’ve run into, or a gift he has given you that you might not be quite sure what to do with.
God knows. He’s always known. He will develop the work, grow it, and bring fruit from it at just the right time and in the right place to reap a great harvest for the kingdom.
This is true for communities, too. God brings people together, gives them the vision for a common goal, and then continues to lead as they work together on his mission. This is the context in which Paul wrote this verse. It is a part of a letter to the church in Philippi, one that Paul started. Along the way, he became fond of these believers. He wants to champion their efforts to preach and advance the gospel.
Through Paul, God began a good work in Philippi. He won’t abandon it, just like he won’t abandon the work he’s started in any of us.
He sustains us. As we grow, change, move, and listen to him, we can rely on him to help us stand. We can believe the word he has spoken. We can trust that God is in charge of the master building project going on in each one of our lives.
He won’t fail, forget, or grow fatigued. God is on the job all the time.
Remember to look to him through your shaky transitions. Believe that he holds your future. Sanctification’s promise is of a sweeter, holier life as we age. It is drawing us ever closer to God until the day when we enter into heaven forever.
Those places that feel too small and uncomfortable now won’t last forever. God is preparing you for something grand, something only you can do. When the work is complete, growth and beauty and love will rush from your life glowing with the marks of his glory.
