Philippians 1:6
Worship Devo with Rebeckah Hastings
Dive Deeper
“And I am sure of this, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6
Behind the Scenes
I have an embarrassing story for you. I used to have my apartment filled up with so much stuff that you couldn’t see the floors. It was comfortable to me, and it was what I was used to (tied to some trauma that I’ve worked through since). But, as you can imagine, I did not invite people over to my place often, and if I did, I would take an entire day to do a cleanup because I refused to let anyone in like that. I was humiliated and disgusted with myself. No one would ever have known, because it looked like I had my life together, and it was a struggle hidden completely.
Fast forward to when I met a cute guy (now my husband). I was living in South Korea teaching at the time, and no one had been to my apartment in months. He was coming over to pick me up for a date, and I was horrified at the thought of him catching a glimpse of my apartment. My eyes scanned the state of my place, and I felt sick to my stomach. I spent hours and hours getting rid of unnecessary items. How someone fills six large trash bags in a studio apartment of things to discard, I will still never understand. I purged, and when he came over he simply said, “cute place!” He had NO idea the amount of work I did for that to be the one thing he said to me. Off we went to a great date.
I’ve been through therapy and have put in a lot of work on my heart, and let me tell you, I’ve come a long way. I’m happy to say that if anyone knocked on my door and walked into my house here today, I would gladly welcome them inside. No one knows the work I put in to get to this place, and no one knows that it’s a daily effort. Well, now you do, but I’m just not as ashamed anymore.
I did the same thing with Jesus. I didn’t know how to bring my internal mess to Him. I strived to clean it all by myself, not letting Him heal the broken parts of me; but that’s not how it’s meant to be. He does not judge our mess. He loves us through it no matter how big it is. Now let’s get to the verse.
Make it Real
Let’s break this down into three parts, because I don’t want you to miss a thing!
“And I am sure of this” – Paul does not doubt God, and he is confident in what he is writing. There’s an assurance that what he is about to say is going to come true. God does not make promises that He does not keep!
‘He who began a good work in you’ – God knit you together, and He made you exactly how He wanted you to be. There’s nothing He would change about the way that He created you, and this is crucial to our faith and intimacy with Him. There may be part of you that you despise, but those things are likely from hurt or trauma that God wants to heal. He doesn’t want you to try and change it without Him. He wants to be there with you.
‘Will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’ This is not a ‘maybe’ or a ‘probably’. Paul writes that God WILL bring the work in you to completion. Is that not a load off? We are works in progress. That means that we aren’t supposed to be perfect yet. Whatever mess we feel like we might be in, He is on that journey with us, and He is there to sort our messes.
Dear one, don’t try and clean your mess up without Him. Allow Him into that space with you. I’m still learning this one. He is a good God who wants to sit with you WHEREVER you are at today.
Ali Bair
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Dear God,
I invite you into my life today, right here, and right now. Thank you that I don’t have to get rid of my mess to come to you. I am sorry if I have pushed you away rather than invited you in. I’ve been afraid of my struggle, but I know that you love me through it all. I invite you into my mess today. Heal the broken parts of me so that you can bring your work to completion in me.
In your name, Amen!