If you’re like me, whenever a road that you travel often gets torn up and is under construction, you think, “Man, what a mess this is! How long is this going to last? It’s taking forever. Please hurry up.” We don’t enjoy what we see or have to drive through during the early phases of construction, but the closer it gets to being finished, we like it better and better.
You’ve probably heard the saying “I’m not all that I want to be, but thank God I’m not what I used to be.” If you can say that today, that’s a good thing, because it means you’re on the road to progress. The truth is that all of us are under construction, and sometimes the road to progress is messy and difficult, and we don’t like what we see in our lives. But we’re a work in progress. We will get to the completion phase, because God is going to fulfill His promises to us.
Notice that when Jesus called His disciples, He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). “I will make you” means He will enable us to become everything He calls us to be. You see that God’s pattern is to “take” and “make” us. We are not called by God because we are somehow qualified and equipped to follow Him, but because we are willing to follow and believe in Him. As imperfect and lacking as we are, we just have to be willing, and He will “take” and “make” us.
So when you get discouraged, remember what the apostle Paul says: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). During the difficult times and challenges, be confident that God is doing a work in you. It’s all just a part of the construction process. God has His hands on you the entire time. He is not going to let you fall or fail. He is going to complete you and get you to the intended destination.
God is a faithful God who pushes us. He doesn’t pat us on the back all the time. He’s loving and kind and gentle, but He is saying, “Get up! I am with you. You’re going to be strengthened in your faith as you go through this so when you get to the other side, you’re prepared for the next level. You’ll be prepared for Me to bring forth the promises that I have in store. Be confident that I will complete the good work in you.”