A Work in Progress

THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2014

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.—Ecclesiastes 3:11

I am an artist. I like to draw and design. Sometimes when I am sketching, someone will come along, look over my shoulder, and see only a certain shape or form.

“What’s it going to be?” the person asks. “Just wait.”

“I think you should do it this way. . . .”

“Just let me do it,” I say. “Why don’t you let me alone until I’m finished, and then I will gladly show it to you.”

Every artist loves to display his work. But when I am working on my art, I know it is a work in progress. When I’m done, then I am happy to show it to others.

You, too, are a work in progress. God is doing a work in your life. When it is done, He will show you. If it isn’t done yet, be patient. God sees the end from the beginning. We can’t see what it is, but God can. That is important to remember. As God told the exiled nation of Israel, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

For Israel, it meant they would be in Babylon for a while, but ultimately, God would get them out. What it means specifically for us on a day-to-day basis, time will tell. Whatever it is, it is good because God is in control of it.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013