Feeling a bit as though you’re under construction? Read on!

“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.”  Philippians 3:12 NLT

“Under construction.”  Don’t we get so frustrated and impatient when we enter construction zones?  The lanes narrow and the traffic slows, sometimes coming to a complete halt. We don’t like slowing down, being delayed. We need to get where we are going – and now!

How easy it is to have the same mindset when it comes to our growth in the Lord. As we know from planting a garden or flowerbed, however, growth is something that just can’t be rushed. 

In this verse, Paul shares two things that can help us in our growth process: 1) he acknowledges he hasn’t arrived, he still has room to grow and 2) he has determined that he will press on. 

I am reminded of the chorus of an old song:

“He’s still working on me,
To make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars. 
How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me!

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart,
‘Don’t judge me yet, there’s an unfinished part.’
But I’ll be perfect, just according to His plan,
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hand.”

One day as Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a stretch of road construction, after facing detours and slow traffic, they finally reached the end. All that was before them now was the smooth pavement. A sign caught Ruth’s attention: “End of construction. Thanks for your patience.” 

In fact, in Billy Graham’s book, Nearing Home, he detailed what Ruth chose to have written on her tombstone. Inspired by that construction sign, it states nothing other than “End of construction–thank you for your patience.”

Friends, our “construction” will come to an end one day. But until then, let’s press on.