There is on old saying in Christians circles (I am not exactly sure where it got started) that goes something like this: “Don’t give up on me…God’s not finished with me yet”. I can relate. I am a mess. Just when I think my spiritual life is moving right along…BAM!…I hit something (or something hits me?). It’s a journey. You can’t give up. You have to keep pressing on and letting God use the ups and the downs to shape and mold you. It doesn’t happen overnight no matter how much you want it to.

But God is working…

Work hard to show the results of your salvation,
obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
For God is working in you,
giving you the desire and the power
to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:12b-13, NLT

Two things stood out for me as I read this passage this morning. First, “God is working in you”. That’s the process, the journey, of walking with God. We do our part (“work hard…obeying”) and God does His part. It’s a relationship. It’s a partnership. You cannot do it alone. He won’t let it work that way.

Second, is that the work God is doing in me is to give me “the desire and the power to do what pleases Him”. I need them both. I need the desire because it’s not my nature (thanks Adam). I need the power because I am not strong enough on my own (I have proven that over and over again). But God knows that. I need Him. He will not allow me to make it on my own. That’s what the journey and the relationship are all about.

I am a mess. God knows it and He is not afraid of it. We are in this together. And that’s cool! I am far from where I want or need to be in my spiritual journey, but that’s OK…God isn’t finished with me yet! And He has done some pretty amazing work up to this point. I can’t wait to see what the future holds.