~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Why do pediatricians get so frustrated?
They have very little “patients”.
What does corn say when it's frustrated?
Aw shucks!
Ever wonder if you just plain frustrate the bejeebers out of Jesus? Well, I have. And if anyone could, I’m pretty sure it would be me. However, in a recent lesson, I had to re-examine that thought.
Definition of Frustrated:
- feeling or expressing distress and annoyance, especially because of inability to change or achieve something.
- prevented from progressing, succeeding, or being fulfilled.
Looking at the definition, I have to ask myself: Is God unable to change me? When I am going through crap, does that mean He is expressing His feelings against me? Is God prevented from fulfilling His will in my life?
Philippians 1:6
“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.”
Read that verse again. Catch the fullness of this verse by putting the “emphasis” on different words as you read it:
- GOD began a good work in me.
- God BEGAN a good work in me.
- God began a GOOD WORK in me.
- God began a good work in ME.
- GOD will carry it on to completion.
- God WILL carry it on to completion.
- God will CARRY it on to completion.
- God will carry it on to COMPLETION.
The Creator of the Universe, Who was and is and is to come, the Lord God, Jehovah, actually decided I was worth the time and effort to build something in little ol’ me. I did not begin anything. GOD began it. GOD connected us together. GOD drew me to Himself. GOD started this whole thing from my very conception. GOD set all this in motion. And this thing God is doing in me is hard – it IS work – but it is a GOOD work. It is not for my harm, but for my good (Jeremiah 29:11). God chose ME. Not just around me, or in the people around me – but IN ME!! That may be the most humbling realization in my life.
So God began this work in me. And God will NOT GIVE UP! God did not start it and then say “there now Connie, you finish it.” No – for obviously I could not. So the same Power that BEGAN this good work, is the same Power that will carry it on. And God is promising here that He WILL carry it on. It’s not a maybe, or might, but a WILL. It will happen – even though I cannot imagine it. God will CONTINUALLY & CONSTANTLY work on this good thing in me. It is a process, of which God is not afraid. Jesus already carried the biggest part – my salvation. And He CARRIES me daily. I’m such a big baby most of the time. And I know that He is trying to teach me to stand on my own, but I still fall down. And rather than leave me there… He carries me. And how long will God do all this – this hard task of creating something GOOD in this sinful, failing body? FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES – which is my entire life. Short or long. As long as it takes to make this Good Work COMPLETE – perfected in me – which is the Day of Jesus Christ – heaven. For even me.
Wow!
There’s a lot there to unpack. So let's go back and re-read those emphasis lines and let's consider what that looks like in our own lives. God has already begun. He is already working on me, and working on you, too. He will finish what He has started. And He doesn’t care how long it takes. God will win the day and will take each of us to completion – to perfection. So great is His Faithfulness!! (Lamentations 3:23)
Horace Bonar (19th century Scottish pastor): “He who is carrying it on is not one who can be baffled and forced to give up His design. He is able to carry it out in the unlikeliest circumstances and against the most resolute persistence.”
“God cannot be frustrated. Sometimes I do fail to respond to difficulties in a God-honoring way. But my failure does not mean God has failed. Even my painfully sharp awareness of failure may be used of God, for example, to help me grow in humility. And perhaps that was God’s intention all along.” ~ Trusting God by Jerry Bridges
God does not ask us how or when we want to grow. And that’s a good thing. Because in my very human-pride, I want God to say a simple word and “poof” I’m perfected. (yeah, right). Obviously, I need strong “parenting” to change me. I need pruning to make this good work bury deep into my soul so that good fruit is produced.
[Jesus says] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:1-5
A healthy vine requires both nourishment and pruning. We are nourished, we are fed, through the Word of God. We are pruned through adversity, so we will grow and bear fruit. THIS is the good work of God within us.
What a comfort to know that God will not some day “get frustrated” with me and just give up. I’m never too far gone. I’m never out of sight, nor out of mind. And even though God has clearly given me hard lessons, He will never “lose control”. He will never give me more than I can handle with His help. I will not be overcome. And everything God IS doing is from His great and perfect love. There really is purpose in the pain. And I can trust that to be the case. Thus, I can release and extinguish my own frustrations as I rest in the assurance that my Father IS doing this good work in me.
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