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 NIV
The Christian life is not a sprint, but a marathon. In our “instant,” “microwave,” culture we have come to expect that everything should be completed quickly, but not so with Christ. As Christians, we are on a journey that lasts a lifetime. God is taking His time, diligently working out every detail of our lives, crafting us to be His masterpiece. He’s not in a rush, and He doesn’t mind set backs and delays.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 NIV
The most important thing is to stay in the race and keep moving forward! Press on toward the prize of knowing God and spending eternity in His presence!
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands. Psalm 138:8 NKJV
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4-8 NKJV
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith Hebrews 12:2a BSB
Well said.
The problem is that we fail to understand that the matter is His. Our very slow progress, even regression, is not ours to determine, but God’as only HE is competent to judge our “progress.”
We are the object of His attention; therefore, our only role is to submit to Him in everything.
From this, we can understand, “In everything, give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you.”