No Halfway
By Shauna Leis
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 1:4-6
While we were at the lake several weeks ago, the priest at the local Catholic Church we attend with Tony’s parents told us a story about a turtle he had seen on the road. He was telling everyone that as he drove by, the poor turtle was stuck in the middle of the street. Apparently he had seen those double yellow lines and thought that he had to be in the “safe zone,” stopping halfway across the street. I could just picture that little turtle sitting there thinking, “Great, now what do I do? Do I continue on to the other side or try to get back to where I originally started?”
Thankfully the priest said on the way home, he did not find any remnants where the turtle had been sitting, so we all hoped that the turtle had made it safely to the other side. In the story that I made up in my mind, he completed his journey and wandered over to the other side of the road in search of something. He decided that halfway was no place to be for such a small turtle.
Many times, I believe we get into the same rut with our Christian lives, too. We start out on this journey with God and find ourselves “stuck” on the double yellow line dividing us between the world and God’s plan for our lives. In our determination to leave our past lives behind, we do indeed step out on that leap of faith, and we walk away from the ways of the world. However, as we dodge the traffic that barrels toward us during our lives, we might start to question whether it was really the correct thing to do in leaving behind the world. And we eventually find ourselves on the double yellow line between the world and God. Unfortunately, much like that little turtle, we figure out that the double yellow line is not the safest place to be as some people do indeed cross over the double yellow line (accidently or on purpose – they both cause the same result; we are squished!).
Thankfully, with God there is no halfway. We cannot begin the journey with God and then stop, partially completed, as indicated in the verses from Philippians above. You see, He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. He will not leave us only partially completed, straddling the double yellow line between Him and the rest of the world. He will carry on and continue to work in us in accordance with His plan and purpose for our lives.
God is the ultimate completer; He does not leave things undone. His very nature and character drive His creation to be finished – not just partially done. He did not start with creation and only complete half of it, as many of us would likely do. Genesis 2:1-2 indicates, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” And God did not just complete it, He looked out on His creation once He was finished and declared it GOOD.
Precious friend, God will do the same thing with our lives. He did not start us out on this journey to leave us where we are. He wants to continue to perfect us and refine us to bring us closer to an image of Him. James 1:4 says, “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” God will persevere in our lives if we will give Him a chance to complete us. He will leave us undone and will not strand us in the middle of the journey. He will never leave us and will never forsake us. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. Will you trust Him today to get you safely over to the other side of the journey? He is waiting patiently for us to see us through it all.
Pray with me: Almighty God and Father, oh how we love You and adore You. You alone are worthy of all honor and glory and praise. Lord, we are so thankful that You do not leave us as we deserve but rather You persevere with us to carry us out to completion. You have promised to finish the work in us to make us mature and complete in You. God, You have finished all the other works that You started, and we can trust in the example of creation that You will complete us, too, and proclaim us “Good!” God, how we long to be with You forever. Lord, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.