“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” - Psalm 138:8

Half read books, half completed projects, half-finished sandwich… there are a lot of things which we start and never finish. Does God ever get interested in another person or project and leave us half finished in a forgotten corner of His will? While it may feel that way sometimes, especially because we have such a propensity to leave things undone and unfinished, God will never fail to fulfill His purposes for each of us. In God’s hands, He will not set us down until He has completed His work in us.  God is an artist, committed to His craft - "But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” Isaiah 64:8. We may not understand why God is forming, molding, and shaping us, but it is all a part of His purpose. While it is normal to question God, that is not our role.

"Does the clay ask the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands’?” - Isaiah 45:9

"But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?” - Romans 9:20

Remember that the purposeful hands which are shaping you are marked by God’s steadfast, enduring, and eternal love for us.

God had a purpose for David, the author of this Psalm. The shepherd boy turned giant slayer, turned superstar, turned outlaw, turned King, turned moral failure, turned redeemed father lived a life of epic highs and lows, failures, and triumphs. David often found himself in the pit of despair, overwhelmed by doubt and nearly despondent.  Yet, God never gave up on David and David fulfilled God's purpose for his life. "For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay” Acts 13:36.

God has a purpose for you too.  God will complete and perfect His purposes in your life as well. "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" Philippians 1:6. You can have this same confidence, because, like David and Paul, we understand that the testimony of God’s love, glory and faithfulness is dependent on this promise.  Grace will complete what grace has begun. God always keeps His promises.

In fact, God’s already kept all His promises for us. In an “already-but-not-yet” fashion; while we may still be a broken, work in progress in the here and now, we are already complete before God in Christ.  We are a finished masterpiece. "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago” Ephesians 2:10. We are perfect before God through Christ in the heavenly realms. "For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:6. "For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” Colossians 2:9-10. The work of the potter may still be in process when we look in the mirror, but it is finished when we look to Christ. One day, when we will stand before God in eternity, it is with great joy that we will be presented without a single flaw or fault. "Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault” Jude 1:24.