“He Who Began A Good Work”

Devotional for Friday the 15th

In the past fifty years I have experienced what has felt like, at times, more than my fair share of negative feelings. I have been haunted by deeply rooted feelings of inadequacy, fear of failure, low self esteem, and a strong feeling of being insignificant. It seems that I have always understood these feelings, but I have not always understood where they came from, or why they “came” at all.

I remember the Lord’s promise to us in Philippians 1:6, which reads, “And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ (right up to the time of His return), developing (that good work) and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” This particular version comes from the Amplified Bible, the italics are mine. Although this is one of my very favorite scriptures, I have learned enough to know that when He speaks something like this to us that some hard days are ahead. That is only because to perform such a thorough work in us, He has to go back to the place where we began to believe and/or set up our confidences in something that was other than in Him.

These patterns in our lives often go back a long way and are pretty deeply instilled in us. I believe that the Lord knows when to begin the process of “unearthing” those things in us. I love that He knows when we are ready, even when we do not believe or feel that we are. Quite often, the pain in our lives becomes the conduit for Him to begin this process within us.

I just recently went to the Dentist for a “root planing” or a “deep cleaning”, as some may call it. In order for the Dentist to dig so deeply into your gums, he must first give you a lot of stuff to “numb” you. I think that depression is kind of like this for us during the emotional healing process. It places a type of “barrier” around us while we are going through some of the hardest places. The next thing the Dentist did was to go into the deep “pockets” and begin to scrape away all of the “build up” that was getting in the way of the gums adhering to the teeth properly. To do this, he must pull the gums down and begin to “work” in those uncomfortable places. He knows that he must do this, even though it will hurt us in the process, in order for him to reach his desired result. This is what the Lord does with us when He begins to “strip” down those years of “build up” in our hearts, minds and spirit. He too, knows that we will experience pain in the process, but He knows that it is necessary, for He desires a “clean, smooth” surface so that His Word and truths will “adhere” properly to our hearts, minds and spirits.

The amazing thing about this process is that the gums know exactly what to do, and it is the very same with our hearts! They “naturally” begin to adhere themselves back into their proper places, snugly fitted against the teeth that they were designed to hold up. I believe this is the same with us emotionally as well. As our hearts, minds and spirits “naturally” begin to move closer and closer to our Lord and Savior, we begin to realize that He was meant for us to “lean” upon, and to place our trust in.

Before this happens, though, there is a lot of “swelling” that occurs in the places that have been upset by all of the digging that has taken place. Swelling causes things to become “bigger” and “out of proportion” with the rest of us. I believe this is how we feel while we are going through this process emotionally also. Things, such as our feelings and even our perspective, begin to seem “bigger” and more “out of proportion” than they used to. Everything begins to feel as if it is “out of alignment” on the inside of us. This is all part of the process.

Today my mouth is still sore. I bit my tongue on accident while it was numb. But what I know is that this procedure, although painful at times, was necessary for my oral health. This procedure has restored my ability to use my teeth in the way that they were meant to function. This is so important, and the same is true with us also. The “surgical procedure” that we allow the Lord to perform on us are just as important to our emotional and spiritual well being. We will never be able to function properly as He has called us to do when our whole “foundation” has been built upon and held up by lies. We will only be able to “stand” when our foundation has been built upon the truths of His love and His ways. We will only be able to “lead” others to Him when we have allowed ourselves to be “led”. We will only be able to speak the truth about Him when we ourselves, have become intimately acquainted with His truth in our own lives. That is where we develop the passion that others can see, hear and that they long for and want to have in their own lives. It makes all the difference.

This is where the Lord met us. He met us in our heartbreak. He met us in our disappointment and in our shame. He met us on the road to suffering and He suffered for us. He met us on the road to death and He went before us. He overcame, and He came out, alive and well on the other side. This is why He can lead us the way that He does, because He has experienced all that we have, and even worse still, and yet He continues to hold out His hand to us today, to lead us into the way everlasting.

Written by Beverley A. Napier