“I’m not perfect, just forgiven. Haven’t yet arrived, but I’m on my way…”
The lyrics to that old Joe Hemphill song, featured on Gaither’s 2002 “I’ll Fly Away” recording, is what I woke up to this morning. The radio wasn’t on, nor my iPhone. It was on repeat in my head. It’s what the Bible calls sanctification: the process of becoming holy.
On my journey, I have disappointed so many people. I’ve thought I was doing right, but I was deceived. At other times, I knew that I was doing wrong, and I kept it up anyway. But thank God – by His grace – that He never gives up on us and continues His work to perfect (mature) us until the day we will meet Him (Philippians 1:6). He’s so amazing at accomplishing His will / work in us that He can even weave in the negative, dark, and ugly parts of our lives into the fabric of our life’s mosaic.
As I continue to search and grow, I’m sure that I’m making mistakes along the way. I continue to make mistakes, to fail, to sin, and to let people down. (In case you haven’t figured out – ‘letting people down’ is my biggest fear.) But it’s my prayer that if I continue, by faith, to understand and obey His word that He will, by grace, overcome my imperfections and make me into a holy son. I believe that. I have to… because there’s nothing I can do to make myself any holier. I know – been there, done that, doesn’t work.
Think about this… God desires you to be perfect and complete and holy even more than you do! For the believer, every day is a step in that direction because we are promised the Holy Spirit. One of the most repeated commands to Christians in the New Testament is the simple word: “Let…” It’s just that simple. Let God have his way. Allow the Spirit to work things for your good. Yield to what He wants to do in and through you. Let Him.
So if you’re struggling today with your desire to be a finished work and no longer a work in progress, just remember that God enjoys the process. He didn’t create the earth in 1 day, He took His time. For Him, that meant six days. He first formed the earth, then filled it. He first formed the seas, then filled them. He formed the skies, then filled them. He formed man, then filled him. So God is enjoying forming and filling you! Sit back and trust Him. Do your best to trust Him and to live a godly life – but rest in the reality that He is bringing His desire to pass on you (Jer. 29:11).
Let’s BOUNCE BACK
In what way can you give yourself a break? What are you not ‘letting’ God do with you today? Write down your prayer of where you commit to simply ‘Let go and let God.’