Continue the Work

He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
Philippians 1:6
Nothing done for the Lord is for nothing.
First Corinthians 15:53

As I consider the moves that are coming up in my life, there are times when sorrow comes upon me. Sorrow comes not for myself, but because I can't see how the work God has been doing here will continue without me. But then I am reminded of Bible promises like the ones above.

When it's God's work, it does not depend on any one person. Now, when I say that, I recognize that there's a danger that we don't take seriously the importance of the work God gives to us. God chooses to do important work through Jesus' disciples! We should never minimize that. The Holy Spirit prefers to work through people. Remarkable and surprising really! But, when the Lord calls his men and women to another mission, it's not as if what was done in the first location is for nothing. He promises to "continue the work."

When we do things God's way, there is always a team of God's people in place that can continue the work. I see this in the book of Acts, where it's so rare that any one leader is acting alone. And I see this in, for example, First Corinthians 12, where the Lord highlights the ways he works among us and through the body to do His work.

There is "one Spirit" from God. That Spirit in us, the Holy Spirit, He does God's work in and through us as He chooses. When He moves someone to another place, as I believe God is now moving me, He will raise up others to continue God's Work. He won't raise up Holy Spirit filled people to continue "my" work in the way "I" would chose. It's never been "my" work anyway. But he will continue His work as we pray and study and seek God's Ways.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts,
but they come from the same Spirit.
There are different kinds of service,
but we serve the same Lord.
God works in different ways,
but it is the same God who does the work...

First Corinthians 12

equalsharing.com