A few years ago while I was still newly-employed at my job, I kept hearing my boss refer to the “year-end WIP reports”, and I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. Being new to all those accounting office buzz words, and wanting so to make a good impression, I privately asked a co-worker what WIP stands for. She kindly replied, “work in progress.”

OK, I now had what the letters stand for, but I still didn’t grasp what the term really means. Next stop, the Internet dictionary. Hmmm: a piece of work that’s not yet finished. How interesting. Self-explanatory, actually.

Unfinished stuff. I can totally relate to that, can’t you? My stack tray is full of it, and so is my house! But on a deeper level, let’s talk about us. I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “work in progress” in my prayer time this morning. Not having heard that term in months, I had to just sit and mull it over before getting ready for work.

You and I are God’s work in progress. As new Christians, we begin as a rough draft (a really rough draft!). In the course of our lifetimes, God has to do a lot of revising, adding, subtracting, changing our thinking, changing our attitudes, undoing what we’ve done to ourselves and what other people have spoken over us.

That stack of papers on my desk hasn’t got a will; the time it takes for completion is entirely up to me and my willingness to whittle it down. However, with God’s work in progress, the “worked on” items–we– have a free will! For that reason, it takes Him all our lives to work out the “bugs.” Sometimes we catch on quickly; other times He has to delete the same things from our mindset over and over.

But He’s patient. He envisions the finished product and He’s so willing to see us through to the end. As long as it takes, as a matter of fact. If you struggle with frustration over your failures, as I often do, know that God’s grace is sufficient. No matter how often you’ve fallen flat on your face, or “almost but not quite” succeeded in fulfilling your destiny, it’s not so late in the game that God can’t redeem the time for you.

He’s an expert at implementing “Plan B” for all of us who didn’t get it right the first (or second, or third!) time. Hop back up onto Father God’s worktable today and allow Him to do a new thing in your life. He’s got plans for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. You’re His very valuable work in progress.

“…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

by Lisa Crum