It is God which worketh in you

Philippians 2:13

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

What a blessed consolation! What a sublime and comforting statement by the great Apostle is given here! Think upon it! Ponder and consider the goods that are present here for the taking. It is God who works in you! God works in mankind to accomplish His purpose! And especially in the life of the Christian, He is constantly at work, weaving and drawing together the chords of our lives. We do not work these things out ourselves. He works in us, and He works through us! For His good pleasure, He diligently and meticulously fabricates the life of His child. For you see, for every reader today, God has a “good pleasure” prepared for you. It is not just the acceptable will of God, but it is the perfect will of God! It is not just the good will of God; it is His good pleasure for you! And He works in you to perform this. Has He not told us in the first chapter of Philippians that He will perform the good work that He began in you until the day of Jesus Christ? Take heart, dearly beloved, for He is even now working all things for His good will and pleasure today.

God, therefore, will often give certain desires and aspirations; He will imbue us with inspirations and good ambitions, all so that His will may be accomplished. Be not ashamed of the desire that He has placed in your heart. You may say, “I want to be sure it is His will.” Yes! Have you prayed? Have you sought Him? Have you acknowledged His working? If you have done these things, no doubt the Lord Himself has put that desire in your heart, because it is in line and in accordance with His own blessed and perfect will. Ask Him to fulfill His will to perfection and completion. For we do not want to accomplish half of His will, but all of His will. Ask God to strengthen the desire, to develop the desire, to guide the desire, that it may be governed by Him, and that it may not be a selfish desire, but a godly desire. Dear friend, many times the desire may begin selfish, and we may have high hopes for ourselves in the desire. But that does not mean the desire is not from God. It is just only in infancy. It has not reached maturity. As it reaches maturity, it will be more God-centered, and less me-centered. But nourish the desire. If it is from God, no doubt it will not come to naught.

Brother or sister, let God work out His good pleasure in your life. If there is a desire deep inside that has not come to fruition, be not discouraged! God has put the seed of something future in your heart. Give it to God! Commend it to His care! He will complete it in time! He will work out His good pleasure. Nothing will fall to the ground when in His hands. Remember today, it is God who worketh in you!

“Father, we thank you that you would condescended to work with mortal man. Thank you for taking the time that you do with sinful people. And we praise Thy holy name that there is a good pleasure that Thou hast planned for each of us. We are trusting in Thy hand of mercy to continue to work out that will in our lives. We eagerly anticipate all that you will do to bring our godly and divine desires to execution. Oh, may you be glorified through it all, that your name may continue to be honored. For you deserve all the honor for these things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”