Trust in Completion

Noted portrait artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff had already painted some of the most famous figures in the business, political, and social realms when she was asked to do a portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She visited the president at his “Little White House” in Warm Springs, Georgia. Roosevelt went there often to soak in the warm natural springs for relief from the pain of his crippling polio. Shoumatoff began her work on April 12, 1945, but during their first session, Roosevelt complained of a headache. He died later that day from a massive cerebral hemorrhage. The famous “Unfinished Portrait” still hangs in the building where it was started but never completed.

God has promised to do a work in our lives that begins at salvation and continues for as long as we live. We need have no fear of that work not being done, for it is not our work, but His.“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”(Hebrews 12:2). Jesus not only began the work of our salvation, but He has promised to complete it as well. The victorious declaration on the cross, “It is finished,” is a cry of faith. The results have not yet been fully revealed, but our future is already sure and certain. There is no question about the end result of God’s plan for us.

Growth Principle:

We can trust God to do all that He has promised to conform our lives to be more like His Son Jesus.