“We cannot even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns.” 1 John 3:2 NLT
“Measure what you are alongside what you are meant to become.”
My thoughts today are about a “wonderful work in progress.”
Do you ever worry about what you are right now, or more likely, worry about what you are not? At any given moment, I am not sure that many of us are ever fully pleased with what we are, or content with what we have done thus far in our lives. I think maybe that push forward is a part of God’s divine design. A danger anyone of us might risk is to become so preoccupied with what you are today, that you may forget how much more you still have the potential to become.
I have found a strange paradox about successful living: you must learn to live fully in the constraints of the current moment’s reality while maintaining a faith-filled anticipation of a greater reality still to be seen. The Bible warns of the trap of unwise comparisons with others in these words, “They are only comparing themselves with each other, and measuring themselves by themselves. What foolishness!” 2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT.
Don’t compare yourself with others, for that is rarely profitable. If another is presently exceeding your achievement you may become disheartened and quit trying, while if you are excelling you risk becoming proud, self-satisfied and no longer productive. You will not yet have arrived until the Savior greets you with His “well done!” Measure what you are alongside what you are meant to become. Paul’s advice is this, “Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.” Galatians 6:4 NLT.
In watching our six grandchildren of ages 10 through 21, I have observed that few people grow or mature at the same pace as anyone else. Your journey is distinct from others’. That seems to be as it should be. You should be cautious of judging your progress, or that of others, prematurely. You, like every other one of us, are decidedly a work in progress, albeit a wonderful work of the Lord’s doing. You may appear to have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but your God will bring you all the way. Here’s how you can know that, “And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again.” Philippians 1:6 NLT.
Our son, Bruce, is a master builder and craftsman, presently building a new church facility nearby. I drive by and see what it is now, unfinished and unattractive while under construction. Ah, but he envisions what it will be when finished. He has seen the plans and knows the design. He sees not only what it is but also what it will be when he’s finished. God looks at you and your life that way – and I think He is excited with the possibilities.
The purpose of God for your life will always contain the dynamic tension of the now and not yet – and both can be unbelievably wonderful and fulfilling. “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God . . dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:1-3 NIV. That eternal reality will be gloriously beyond anything you imagine.
My prayer for you today is: remember, God is pleased with you now and knows what you can yet become.