My Confidence

…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) 
 
In the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, on the sacred, sprawling grounds of a church conference center, I first read those words which the apostle Paul had penned. I was trying to determine what God wanted me to do next: Should I stay another six weeks and earn a small stipend with room and board while working at the camp? Or should I return home and work for more money to help fund the following year’s expenses for school? As a teenager, having enough money to buy a car and underwrite an education was important. However, learning to hear from God personally was an education which money could never buy. Clearly, I became a student in the “school of listening.”  
 
He showed me the verse. “He” was the man who had been standing in the gap left by my wayward earthly father. He was there that summer, at the very crossroads of my dilemma. When I asked him what I should do, He answered with this verse, rather than processing it with numerous words. He was like that…few words, but the words He did utter stuck in my mind like glue, even to this day, decades later. He left me to sort out what this verse meant…and I am still pondering this verse. 
 
One thing I do know is this: If you are breathing, God is still working in you to accomplish His perfect plan in your life. You can rest assured, He is on the job right now, arranging your life and molding your future to be the consummate plan He has already designed for you. You are not behind. You haven’t missed your turn or missed your plane. He is actively shaping your next step today. He will finish your portrait with the touch of His masterful strokes. Sit up, stand up, lift your chin and your mind to the very place He has for you this moment. Be confident; you are His good work!