Author & Finisher

"...You have cast us off and put us to shame, and You do not go out with our armies."
– Psalm 44:9

What do you do when you think that God is not on your side and that He is on the side of the enemy? Have you ever had that thought in your mind? You want to serve God. You love the Lord with all your heart. Yet it seems like everything is coming against you, and nothing is going your way. Maybe it leaves you asking the question, “Lord, what is going on. I thought I was yours?”

It can seem like in every direction you go, there is opposition. Sometimes every prayer you pray leaves you wondering where God is and if He is even listening. It may even seem that Satan is getting the best of you. Even today, we live in a time where it honestly seems that way. Like God has abandoned us and given us over to the enemy. This is what the lament of this Psalm expresses.

We must remember that God is always at work. It has been said that, “we never value our fellowship with God so much as when His face seems to be hidden from us.” This is so true. It leaves us longing for Him, which is such a wonderful place to be. It is then that we seek Him the most.

To endure these seasons, which is all they are passing seasons, we must have faith. We must trust God’s Word and the promises He has laid out for us. He will fulfill and complete them. The Bible tells us to be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). What a wonderful promise that takes all of the pressure off us and places it on Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith.

"We have got to realize what God has begun He is going to finish. He is not like us. He doesn't start a lot of projects that He doesn't finish. The word perfect means complete. God is going to complete those things that concern you. He is going to complete that work of His Spirit within your life. He has begun it. He will finish it. He is the author and the finisher."
– Chuck Smith