flourish

There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears...

Almost everyday, at some point in the day, I lose focus. I forget that this life is not all about me. That seems to be opposite of what I see and hear around me; considering the pressure to make our ourselves better. If that's the case, I am in trouble! I've tried so many times to make myself better; better with people, a better wife, better at work, better disciplined, and the list goes on. And there is something in trying, but I'm so glad there's someOne else that wants to shape my life. I've failed so many times, and yet I keep trying. It always happens when I look at someone else who is awesome. And I know many of them, so it's completely easy for me to compare myself to them.

Comparison is not what God had in mind when it comes to my purpose in life. If he wanted to create me to be like everyone else, or like anyone else, He didn't need to think of me before I was born, create me from the inside out, he could have just made a replica, and saved himself some time, effort and energy.

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.

How awesome is God?! How incredible to think that he actually thought before he created us! He didn't stop at creation, but then he made a way for us to live, he gave us tools and direction for the daily stuff (His word and his Holy Spirit) and he became the ultimate sacrifice so we could actually live whole, and not be consumed by our sin! And He promises us that He'll finish what he started! It's so much, it's all for us, and it's all for love!

I have to remind myself of this daily! God doesn't want our lives to be depressing comparisons and self-centered quests to find what we are looking for (because we still haven't found what we're looking for). He wants us to accept what He's doing with our lives. It's not like he just walked away after he created us, leaving it to us to figure out how to become awesome. No. He want to complete our lives, to the end, and He has the plan to do it. It's not just life, getting from one day to the next, it's purpose with incredible opportunities and a God who is not going to leave us undone if we stick with Him.

I am so excited for the next that God has for me. I am so eager for the promises that He's given me. I'm ready to flourish.


*Philippians 1:5-6, 9-11 and Psalm 139:14-16, The Message