Work in Progress

This morning on my way to work, something amusing happened.  I was stopped at an intersection leading to the highway, and a man was standing next to the road with his thumb up and a sign that said "Reno".  We made eye contact and I gave him a quick nod as if to say hello.  He pointed down to the sign and I shrugged my shoulders to let him know I couldn't do it.  I don't think my boss would like it if I made a 250 mile side trip before my next call.  I don't think this guy understood that, because as I drove past him, his thumb went down and his finger came up.  His bird was flying long and proud. 

I drive about 4 hours average per day between different calls.  When I am logging all this windshield time, I have random thoughts just jump into my head.  The thoughts can be anywhere from "Does a deaf person have to wash his hands with soap if he swears in sign language?" to "I wonder what Hawaii 5-0 will think of next?"  It can be dangerous trying to get into my head. 

The thought I had today after seeing this bird flying was "When did I first learn that flipping someone off was wrong?"  There are certain moments in your life that you don't forget and this was one of them for me.  I was just learning to ride a bike.  After multiple attempts and multiple failures, I finally started riding.  I looked at my cousin and yelled "I got this!".....after which I promptly ran into a bank of trash cans.  I took a big chunk of skin off my middle finger.  As I was showing my cousin, he told me about the power of flipping someone off. 

The reason I bring this up is the sentence that I yelled while riding: "I got this!".  How many times in life do we yell that phrase?  Step out of the way God, I got this. 

I work at a Drug Treatment Facility, and I have heard that phrase multiple times.  Two weeks ago I was teaching a class, and one of the men told me he was leaving in two days.  I asked if he was ready.  "I got this now", is what he told me.  Last Saturday, I was at Safeway and ran into this same guy.  Reeking of alcohol, he told me that he wasn't prepared for real life and that he already violated parole.  In my experience, the men who tell me "I got this!", more often then not are back in prison before the end of the month.  Why?  Because we are putting ourselves above God.  "I" got this and not "He".  We are stating that we "arrived" somewhere.

None of us have arrived yet.  We are still works in progress.  If you are reading this right now, if you are breathing right now, you haven't arrived yet.  "I got this" should be changed to "God has me".   I am glad today that I am not what I used to be and, most importantly, that I am not now what I will be when He is through with me.   As we travel towards eternity we are clay in the hands of the Heavenly Potter.  He is working on us now, and has great plans for us in eternity.  The Lord has made a substantial investment in each of our lives.  I cannot see Him leaving us now or ever, and let us handle this world on our own.   God did not save a single soul to lose it along the way.  Trusting ourselves instead of trusting God seems to be easier. 

It is our own choice if we push God out of the way and try and complete this life ourselves.  Know this: He started it, He maintains it, and He will finish it.   Thank God, He is still working on me!  And, He will continue to work until every single one of His children is at home with him in Eternity.  Someday God will finish His work in me.  I will never be satisfied with the me I know down here, but I will be satisfied with the me that will be with Jesus in Eternity.  We are all just works in progress. 

"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 1:6