Reflection

Ha, I'm so clever, I've managed to come up with a post title that includes both what I want to talk about and a picture I'd like to post. Marvellous.

I've been reflecting on something said at the UCCF Graduate Conference (a jolly good wheeze old boy). It was a quote from William Wilberforce:

I am not what I should be
I am not what I want to be
I am not what I will be
but I am not what I was
and by the grace of God I am what I am

I find that I get very focused on the first two ideas, conscious always of my sinfulness and allowing that to drive me away from God. However I have been reflecting on the other 3 ideas, and it has been an encouragement for me.

I am not what I will be. One day I will be presented without blemish, not through my own strength but the power of God working in me, it's a real encouragement when I am tempted to think that I'll never make it, and therefore might as well give up. But no, I am not what I will be, God has promised and he is faithful.

I am not what I was. When I continue to struggle with sin and I wonder initially whether I am really different to how I used to be it's hard for me to make sense of this. However, it makes much more sense when I consider what I was before I was a Christian. I was an enemy of God, an object of his wrath. Thank you Father for saving me.

By the grace of God I am what I am. I'm not the finished article, I won't be until the day I stand before him in heaven. I am mistaken though when I complain to God about who I am now, because it is only by his grace that I can stand at all.

And now, another kind of reflection.