Philippians 1:6 – “And I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Last week, my husband Bob and I took our first walk together since returning from Kenya. As we pushed ourselves up the long hill, I strove to keep pace with him and found that I was breathing hard at the top of the hill, my lungs having been exercised and stretched. I realized that had he not been with me, I would have gone much slower and not have pushed myself as hard, and after weeks of my walking alone, I would have made less progress going further and for a longer period.
Then I thought about Philippians 1:6, and how thankful I am that God is not only the author of my faith but the finisher of my faith. If it was up to me, I would take a less strenuous, safer, easier route. I would avoid the hard challenges, choose roads requiring less dependency, and side-step the fearful paths. But as I have yielded to His pace, He is stretching me with difficult hills, walking me through messy puddles and potholes, and choosing different roads than I would travel. His pace is building muscles of faith, endurance, tenacity, patience, compassion and love. And just as Bob and I share our thoughts and dreams as we walk drawing closer together through our time together, so it is with God. There is greater understanding of Him as my Abba Father, me as His daugher, and the work that we are doing together.
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