Forming and finishing

Theodore Rhodes, our third boy.

The wooden frame is eventually removed. The temporary weight of indentation, the momentary affliction from the trowel. Vulnerability and seclusion are part of the forming and finishing process. Concrete is known for resilience, but it runs at first. It must be formed and finished.

Jordon and I had been praying for several months, asking that Theodore (Teddy) would come full-term. He was born Friday, July 25, 8 weeks early. We’re no strangers to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). In 2023, our second boy, Shepherd (Shep), was born 6 weeks early and spent about 2 weeks there. We had hoped Teddy's delivery would be different. We had hoped Teddy wouldn't need a machine to help him breathe. We had hoped Teddy wouldn't need a feeding tube, an IV in his head, nurses running to get his heart rate up, and several nights away from us in an incubator. God didn't answer our prayer for Teddy the way we had hoped He would.

We've fought frustration. We've fought jealousy. We've battled discouragement. We know challenging days remain. But even when we don't feel it and struggle to see it, we know God is faithful. We know He is working for His glory and our good.

God is concerned with what He is doing in us, not just what He is giving to us or keeping from us.

From a prison cell, Paul writes, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6, ESV).

This "good work" is the work of the gospel, and it's the best gift ever. God gives us what we don't deserve (grace) and keeps from us what we rightly deserve (mercy). He has given us Himself. The glory of the gospel is that God took on flesh, suffered immensely, and died innocently for sinners like me. What greater gift could we ask for than what God has already given (eternal salvation)? What greater danger could we ask God to keep from us than what He has already withheld (eternal separation)? To be in Christ is to receive the best and be spared from the worst. That's the good work God is working in believers. He is forming and finishing believers into the image of His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

In another place, Paul writes, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified" (Romans 8:28-30, ESV).

As I wrestle with questions and battle frustrations, I find comfort in knowing God is working in me. He is making me more like Jesus, reminding me of what He has already given to me and kept from me. I'm encouraged to know that in our present battle, God is working for His glory and our good. More than anything, I pray Teddy (and his brothers), grow to know God by grace through faith in Jesus. I pray they live with an increasing awareness of His glory, the salvation given to them, the separation kept from them, submitted to the forming and finishing of God's marvelous grace.

When the trowel is working, it's easy to question the maker. When the frame is placed, the control joints plotted, and soft concrete sits like plastic behind a barrier, it's easy to get frustrated. But give it some time, and the concrete forms to the proper image, finished for a purpose, with all credit given to the maker.

Believer, God is for you. He is not against you. It may not be what you asked for, a trial you wish had been kept from you, a gift you wish had been given to you. But God really is good, not a bad God who causes bad things. Don't let a sinful, fallen world distort your view of God; let God define Himself and what is to become of a sinful, fallen world.

We catch a glimpse in Revelation 21:3-4: "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away'" (ESV).

Until then, the good Maker is forming and finishing what He has started for His eternal glory and our eternal good.