Verse of the Day for May 29

Two days frame this sentence. from the first day until now, and then until the day of Jesus Christ. One lies behind the Philippians, the day Lydia opened her home by the river. The other lies ahead, the day Christ returns. Between them is the long road.

Paul is confident of this very thing. Not confident in them, as if their stamina guaranteed anything. Confident that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it.

The God who starts is the God who finishes. That is the whole hope of the long road. You do not have to keep the work alive by your own strength. You only have to stay with the one who is carrying it.

And Paul writes this in chains. I have you in my heart, he says, both in my bonds and in his defence of the gospel. The long road for him included prison. His confidence did not depend on his circumstances being easy.

If you are years into a marriage, a ministry, a slow recovery or a course of study that keeps getting longer, remember both days. The first day, when he began, and the day he will finish. You are somewhere in between, and he has not let go.

The road between the two days is long, but it is held at both ends.

Your perseverance rests on his faithfulness, not on your stamina.