This here post is a part of a four-part blog series I am writing. It’s about being finished… Buuut ironically it’s not finished yet. So here is part four. View part three here.

 

My unfinished work is not to make my car function. It’s to work with what is functional in the meantime.
My work isn’t to pretend I’m a mechanic and try to fix something I can’t fix.
My work is to focus on what is in my power, and trust the mechanic to do his job.
Only then will my life and my spirit and my attitude be
functional.

The work I must do is NOT to hide in fear and just get by.
My unfinished work is NOT to try to make up for myself —
all over again, every single day, every single time I sin —
when somebody already made up for myself.

And my work… is to expect his grace will meet me there in my messy future.

Bet on it.

My work is to stop wondering —
since Jesus already did the work of getting me to a good place forever —
if He will do so tomorrow.
And the next day.
And five minutes ago.

This is hard to explain practically, but bear with me.

If God tells you to give to the poor and all you have is car and house debt…
you won’t!

If God tells you to give to the poor
and then gives you all the riches of heaven
and more than enough money for your own debts…
you will.

What if you could drive, expecting your car will do its job?
What if you could give, expecting your bills would be taken care of?

What if you could live expecting that God will provide grace in abundance — that is, not only for your own needs, but everything you need to love recklessly — with plenty of buffer room for your mistakes?

Grace.

Bet on it.

Grace is something we often fall on our faces in front of. I messed up… I hope grace will be there… Will it be there? … Oh my gosh, it was there. That could have been bad. Now I owe you. I feel so bad… I’ll make up for myself next time, you know, when grace might not be there.

That’s not how God’s grace works!!!!

Grace.

What if grace wasn’t something we hoped would show up,
but something we could bet on being there?

Bet on it.
Bet on it.

Now, don’t dilly-dally and just never take your car in. And yes, it will cost $700. But in the meantime,
don’t let EPC steal from you even more than that $700… by distracting you from the joy of driving to a shop anyways and buying a friend a cup of coffee.

Don’t let your guilt from the past keep you from sharing hope with someone today.
Don’t let your fear of the future keep you from doing the important thing God has for you to accomplish today.
Don’t let your regret from not accomplishing that thing this morning tell you that you’ll never get anything done ever.

Expect grace to show up.
Bet on it.

And most of all, don’t let your unfinished work EVER
cause you to forget the work Jesus already finished.
Because THAT work
was the work that’s gonna matter in 1 trillion years.

Bet on it.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. Celebrate, because the hard part is over,
and because of that, the messy, everyday part is now possible.

Bet on it.

Whatever is the best thing you can do next —
regardless of the past —
do that thing. Because, by the grace of God,
you can bet
it’s as good as
Finished.

 

 

Questions I ask yourself:

  1. When you move forward into a new day, what kind of anxieties do you face?
  2. Have you ever thought of working backwards… and expecting grace to meet you for all the times you fall short of the expectations of yourself and others?
  3. If you could go back in time one week and reassure yourself of something, what would it be?
  4. What might it look like to live out our days assured and confident in Jesus’ finished work even amid the unfinished?
  5. What is the greatest insight you gained from this series?