God is at work in us all the time

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6

We moved to Pudsey in 1979, specifically to help strengthen part of our Bradford-based church in that area. We had bought a 200-year-old quaint weaver’s cottage.  In the week  that we moved there was a major snowstorm. We couldn’t get the front door open, the outside tap suddenly burst, and the storage heaters wouldn’t work to keep our one-year-old baby warm.

The church grew and in 1980 our second child was born. At the end of that year, we decided to move to a more modern house that would need less maintenance. That started a seven-and-a-half-year battle to sell the house. Many people wanted to buy it but surveyors discovered serious problems, and no-one could get a mortgage. During this period our third son was born, in 1983.

After several years of trying to sell the house, I was really confused and upset. One day, I was pushing our baby buggy around the town centre. In my mind, I was shouting at God. I was debating whether I was going to stop being a Christian. I’d had enough. We had moved to Pudsey for the sake of the kingdom of God and had had nothing but trouble with our house from day one!

John was away with work that week. I got the boys ready for bed. As we were going up the stairs, two of them started being sick simultaneously. I hugged them and immediately started praying for them.

A bolt of truth came into my heart. If I stop being a Christian, turn my back on Jesus, leave the kingdom of God and go back into the kingdom of darkness, I can no longer pray for my family or anybody. I would lose truth and light, direction and protection, being part of a church family and much more.

I sat down in the midst of my sick-and-crying children, and said, ‘Jesus, I surrender, if I have to stay in this house for the rest of my life, so be it. I can’t live without you.

That was four decades ago- I am still following Jesus. The verse in Philippians above is true - that he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion. Jesus will finish the good work he has started in us.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

He is always working in us, through his Holy Spirit. He always has our back. He will help us finish the race whatever gets thrown at us, and, somehow, he will work everything together for our good.

A Prayer

Jesus, thank you for ‘delivering us from the domain of darkness and transferring us to the kingdom of your beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’ Col. 1:13 Thank you that you will bring to completion the work you have started in us. Amen!

PS We did sell the house in 1988, at a reasonable price!

Photo by Tierra Mallorca