God’s Unfinished Business

Unfinished. When Charles Dickens died, he was working on a murder mystery. To this day, no one knows who committed the murder in that story.

In 1822, composter Franz Schubert began work on a symphony. He died six years later without completing what is now known as “The Unfinished Symphony.”

There’s something sad about things left unfinished. What might it have been if it had been completed? What potential was lost? What greatness was never seen?

Friend, right now you and I are God’s unfinished business. We are in the process of becoming what he intends us to be. Philippians 1:6 says, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”

We are a work in progress. Have no doubt, God will finish the work he’s doing in us. We will be complete, mature, whole, and perfect—crafted by God’s own hand and molded in his own image.

Because we are unfinished, we sometimes mess up. We disobey. Or doubt. We make mistakes. When that happens, we don’t have to give up. Yes, we should be sorry and repent. Yes, we must make a sincere effort not to keep making the same mistake.

But messing up never means giving up on God, because God will never give up on us! He will keep working, keep shaping, keep healing until one day we perfectly reflect the brightness of our Lord. He will repair what is broken, restore what is damaged, and straighten what is crooked as he steadily marches through the inevitable process of making us complete.

David, Peter, Moses, Thomas—they all made mistakes, but God still used them. God specializes in flawed people. That’s good news for me because I’m flawed. But God still loves me. He still wants to use me. And regardless of what mistakes you may have made, he still loves you and wants to use you.

It’s so comforting to know that God WILL NOT leave us unfinished. He is 100% committed to moving us from unfinished to complete. We are not like an unfinished Dickens novel or Schubert symphony. God will not stop working on us. He wants to see the full expression of the potential he placed inside us. We are his bestselling novel, his masterpiece symphony. He is committed to our salvation, our development, and making us complete in him.

So cut yourself a little slack. You don’t have to be perfect—yet. Right now, you’re God’s unfinished business, a work in progress. But one day, if you don’t give up, the grace and determination of God will make you perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for loving me enough to keep working on me. Give me wisdom to learn from my mistakes and faith to accept your generous forgiveness. Help me trust the process as you change me into your image. Thank you for not leaving me unfinished. In the name of Jesus, amen.