Dear Missionary Lady,
Greetings in the name of our faithful God. I’m so thankful that He keeps doing His sanctifying work in us. God doesn’t give up on us as quickly as we sometimes give up on ourselves.
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Why does God keep doing His work in us? Because He wants to! “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). He knows what He wants us to become, and He has dedicated Himself to achieving His end, even when we don’t always make it easy.
There are times in life that are harder than others. There are times in life when we stumble in our weakness. We disappoint ourselves with our responses or we fail to trust as much as we should. Where is God in those times?
Oh, wonderful answer! God is still with us. He is still faithfully working, faithfully forgiving, faithfully orchestrating. I don’t know exactly how to explain or present this truth, but I can say that God has recently confirmed it again to me. I recently talked with God about a lot of converging challenges that had driven me to a place that I was not happy to be and where I didn’t make the best decisions.
As I concluded my time with Him, I realized how focused I had been on the challenges. I realized that I must not forget the blessings that existed even within the hard times. So I went back through the challenges and reflected on the goodness and provision and blessing of God. Those things were there – and not just in one or two small answers. (Two typed pages of unbroken text.) No, I saw that all throughout the really difficult times, the really hard challenges, the really tough temptations, and the really glaring weaknesses, God was faithful. Over and over again, He protected me, provided for my needs, prompted my thoughts, and poured out His love.
God still loves me, and He still wants me to grow. He is sad about my failures just like I am, but He patiently works to bring me out of those failures and into a better walk. Choosing thankfulness reminded me that life is not all bad. Even when it is really bad, or almost as bad as it can get, there are still blessings from God. Still grace. Still help. Still support. Still guidance. Still goodness. Even then – maybe especially then – God is faithfully doing His work of transforming us into the image of His dear Son.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18). Thank God for His faithful love and His faithful work. One day we “shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2), but until then, He faithfully works to take us closer to that desired end. May God help each of us to be pliable within His capable hands.
Love in Christ,
Peggy Holt
member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA
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