Caution! Work in Progress
Written by Heartsong Live on 8th September 2020
My neighbour, Claire’s husband taught himself how to ride a bike…in his 30s.
They recently moved to the area and as a one-car family whose rule was that the car stayed with the parent who had the kids, he needed to find a way to get to the train station quickly. Walking was out of the question considering it was a 1hr walk at best. Not exactly something he wanted to be doing first thing in the morning on his way to work.
He had limited time as taking taxis was far from economical, especially when you added his monthly train ticket fare. He gave himself 2 weeks.
So out he went most evenings up and down our little cul-de-sac. From time to time, you heard a loud “Ouch” and when we next caught up for a quick chat, he’d go to great lengths describing his ‘epic falls’, showing us the little bruises he was acquiring, like badges of honour. One time, he even sported a little limp.
You’ve got to celebrate the man’s courage. Not many people can take the embarrassment of falling flat on their faces when learning to do something most people learnt to do as kids. But learn he did and before you knew it, he was zapping all around the place with his spanking new bike, tackling hills and dips, like he’d been doing this his whole life.
As Christians, we are bound to fall flat on our faces sometimes as we navigate this narrow path called Christianity. There’s such a vastness to God that we’ll forever be students in our knowledge and understanding of Him. But we fall and get back up. We learn and we move on.
What we don’t do is give in to guilt and shame and then give up on ourselves- especially as God never gives up on us. When you make a mistake you don’t run away from God. You run to God, who’s always ready to wipe the slate clean so you can start afresh.
The further we go, the better we become, as long as we stay connected to God and His word. But the truth is, we very much remain works in progress for most of our time here on earth.
That’s why God gifted us (the Church) with the 5-fold ministry because we needed to be prepared and equipped to do those works of service that would build God’s people (us) up until they reached maturity (perfection) (Ephesians 4:10-13). Plus He brings to perfection the good work He started in us UNTIL the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6). This should fill us up with confidence!
What crosses your mind when you see the big (or sometimes small), yellow sign that says ‘Caution! Work In Progress’? Well for one, it’s a feature you mostly see on construction sites, right? To me, that sign represents a promise- of something beautiful and complete on the horizon even though it may look like a hot mess at that very moment.
Never write yourself off. God isn’t finished with you yet. He’s patiently and lovingly pruning and filing and shaping the masterpiece you’re becoming.
Change can be hard. Growth can be brutal. But the end result is something beautiful. YOU become something beautiful- the beautiful bride whose groom is the Most High God.
