Hey guys, hope you’re all enjoying the extended Bank Holiday weekend. I’ve set myself a number of tasks to complete as I set out to make my physical, mental and spiritual environment just a little better. I’ve always been on this journey of making myself better but find that with my starter non-finisher personality trait, I often pause and have to restart. Thing is, nothing wrong with taking a break now and then because, you know, life happens. The most important thing for me is that I never stop completely. This journey is one that I cannot stop because my future self needs me to keep going. The people I am yet to meet need me to keep working on myself in order to get the best from me. I know there’s so much to do and the thought excites me. It also overwhelms me and scares me. If you're reading this, I imagine you've probably felt the same way at some point in your life. Maybe when things were not going the way you expected and you wondered what would happen next.
You probably asked yourself, am I doing this wrong? Did I disobey God's instruction? Am I being punished? I can confidently say the grace of God is more than sufficient to get you through those moments. Why the long preamble to this post? You're probably wondering what I'm trying to say. This post started to form in my mind when I was driving on a familiar route from my local supermarket. It's one that's very close to me yet I seldom visit because of all the construction work taking place. And why would I choose to drive around an awkward roundabout littered with cones, warning signs and road bumps? The natural thing, I thought, was to go to the supermarket that's just a bit further away but has no traffic, cones or awkward road bumps.
As I drove, I thought about myself being under construction and wondered how many others around me saw me this way. Or maybe they saw me and avoided me the way I avoided the awkward uncompleted road? Would that be fair or wise? What could I have been missing out on? What could others be missing out on? I cannot answer all those questions for you except to say to you today, think about the journey you're on. Your story is far from complete. The race is not finished and the Lord has not finished His work in you. There's always work to be done, repairs to be made, improvements to be added which means you have to learn to appreciate what's complete and rejoice in the journey to perfection. Don't avoid it and try to find an easier route. Don't feel bad for being under construction. Look forward to the joy of the construction being completed. Think of all those people who get to enjoy an even better you!
The bible is filled with stories of people who journeyed to a better version of themselves. Moses is always an inspiring story because of how he started and even how his story ended. Moses with all his knowledge of God was still under construction near the end of his story when he lost his temper and digressed on one instruction from God. The apostle Peter was under construction when he denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. My encouragement to you today is this: don't be shy when others see you under construction because the end result will be beautiful. Forget the mistakes of your past and look forward to applying your learning in the future. Remind others that you operate under the grace of God and know that acceptance and validation do not come from others. They come from God. Those who stay with you and continue to work with you whilst under construction will also taste and see the goodness of God when they see His finished works in you!
God bless you!