P B P G I F W M Y -- Devotional for August 17, from 'Good Seeds"

As long as I’m alive in this body there is good work for me to do. But if I had to choose right now whether to stay on, or move on, it would be a hard choice. The desire to break camp here and go to be with Christ is powerful. Some days I can think of nothing better. But right now I guess it might be better for me to stick it out here a little longer, to be your friend as your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues. (Philippians 1:22-25)

Can you pronounce this word? You can’t? Well, that’s because it’s not a word at all, but code for a whole sentence: Please Be Patient, God Isn’t Finished With Me Yet. People used to wear little pins with these letters inscribed on them. What a great conversation starter! Have you ever come to a point in your life when you’ve made so many mistakes (or, committed so many sins) that you just wanted to give up? “Stop the world, I want to get off!” you shouted. We all can feel like such failures at times. But a failure is not someone who fails over and over, but rather who has quit trying to succeed, who has indeed “gotten off” the world. Imagine how Saul the Christian-killer felt the day he met Christ on the Damascus Road, the day Jesus blinded his eyes so He could open his heart to what he had been doing. Guilt could have sent Saul into a bottomless pit of depression and despair. But God forgave him, and then gave him a new start, a new job – and a new name, Paul, to go with it all! He wasn’t proud of what he had done, but he was done looking back. His newly restored vision was aimed squarely on the road before him. And he told anyone who would listen, “Say what you want about me; all I know is, when I gave up on me, God didn’t! He’s using me now, and apparently He isn’t finished yet! Oh, I’d much rather be in heaven with Him, but I guess He'd rather be on earth with me, to keep me around here – and around you – for just a little bit longer.” A song called “Wait and See” expresses Paul’s testimony (maybe yours and mine, too). It goes something like this: “I was trouble since the day I got here, and trouble till the day I disappear – that will be the day that I finally get it right!” But in the meantime, he claims the promises of God, that He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), that He has good work for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), and that He will be with us and in us every step of the way, to get the job done (Hebrews 13:5b). That’s why the songwriter can sing – and I think I want to sing it with him – “There is hope for me yet, because God won’t forget all the plans He’s made for me…I’ll have to wait and see, for He’s not finished with me yet!” Every Christian needs a statement of faith. But maybe he needs a statement of hope, too. Here’s a good one: P B P G I F W M Y!