It seems as if my entire life is
under construction. Undone, incomplete, not yet finished. This is where I live.
The yellow CAUTION tape is for my protection, but I can’t wait to rip it down
and see beauty. God’s truth has a way of speaking directly into my impatience.
Now we see
things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see
everything with perfect clarity. All
that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything
completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)
We live in an imperfect, puzzling time where
things don’t always make sense. It’s messy and unfinished. Living in the
construction zone gives me anxiety. I
crave clarity. I strive for perfection. I thrive in order and calm, and most
days, it’s a stretch to find just a stitch of calm.
I get this same uneasy feeling
when I read through books like Leviticus and Numbers. I get overwhelmed by the
utter mess man has made of God’s creation. I have to remind myself that these
are incomplete parts of God’s story that point to His ultimate plan for
redemption. This story doesn’t end with the fall of man and the wrath of God.
It’s true in scripture, and it’s true in my life and in yours.
Without Jesus every story
is incomplete.
Jesus was with God as He
spoke life into being. Restoration has always been part of God’s plan. Even at
its messiest, God always knew how the story would end. He sees through the chaos
of unfinished and past the imperfections of brokenness all the way to His final
completed masterpiece.
God’s story starts and
ends with Love.
God is Love. He reveals
Himself through Jesus, the visible face of the invisible God. You may have
heard 1 Corinthians 13 referred to as the “Love Chapter” in the Bible, but really,
it’s an entire chapter about Jesus. In the margin of my Bible I wrote these
words some time ago: Replace ‘love’ with
‘Jesus.’ I’m not sure who inspired me to jot those words next to
these verses, but they have changed the way I read this familiar passage.
Jesus is
patient,
Jesus is kind.
He does not
envy,
He does not
boast,
He is not proud.
Jesus does not dishonor others,
He is not
self-seeking,
He is not easily
angered,
He keeps no
record of wrongs.
Jesus does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Jesus
always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.
Jesus never
fails. (verses 4-8)
We can live with peace in the construction zone, because
God’s work is a labor of love.
The word undone
means incomplete and unfinished. It also
means destroyed, distressed, or troubled. I’m learning that it is possible to
live unfinished and also untroubled. Fear
convinces us that God will leave us here in this undone state, but Perfect Love is willing and able to
drive out fear.
Jesus is God’s completed work
of redemption. In Him we have been made complete. (See Colossians 2:10) When we
long for completion, we need look no further than Jesus- the One who gave
everything to bring us back into the arms of the Father.
We can live undone because of what Jesus has already done.
God already sees the
completed you, so He can look right past the mess. All because of Jesus. There will be a time when it all makes
sense, when every piece fits beautifully together, and all is completely
restored. The story isn’t finished, but God’s already
revealed the ending. He invites us to live underneath the banner of love and
trust Him to finish the work He began.
When living undone starts to feel
overwhelming, may we look to Jesus’ perfection rather than our brokenness. May we
be reminded of God’s faithfulness even as we are tempted to give up. May we
trust Him to see us through, surrendering everything unfinished to the One who said,
“It is finished.”
Jesus loves you,
Kelly
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