Philippians 1:6 says, “I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
Try as he might, my son couldn’t force enough air from his full lung capacity to blow up the little red balloon he was trying to inflate. Dizzy from the strain, he collapsed into a chair in frustration, just as his father walked by and held out his hand. He took the balloon and started to work.
After four or five stretches of the latex material, he pressed the opening to his lips and gave it several strong blows, then cinched it between two fingers and handed the partially filled balloon back. Our son looked confused.”
“You’re not going to finish it? I’ve already tried and can’t do it.”
“You can now because I got it started. You can take care of the rest.”
And sure enough he did, under his father’s watchful gaze—amazed now that even his little-boy breath was able to enlarge the balloon to a full, rounded, taut-to-the-touch expanse. He handed it back to his dad for the final tie-off, and the work was completed.
The father’s breath had broken the barrier to the impossible.
When the tasks of life are too tightly wound for our paltry resources to effect any lasting change, we are tempted to resort to more of our own effort. We inhale, we exhale, we give it all we’ve got—work our connections, perfect our résumé, exert our finest skill, invest money toward its success—only to be disappointed with the outcome, our best effort insufficient.
When will we learn to hand the thing over? When will we finally call on the One whose breath not only gives us life, but is in itself the life behind everything we do? From up in the heavenlies, He infuses His plans for us with the catalytic propulsion of His divine power. We watch in stunned awe at the ease with which He sets things in motion—things we’ve been exhausting ourselves to try accomplishing for many years, through many tears.
The Father’s breath is what breaks the barrier to the impossible.
But then He hands it back to us, assuring us that what we could not do then, we will be able to do now because He has initiated the work. And now He will empower us to roll on forward with it—completing the work through us, allowing us the privilege of partnering with Him. He knows we can’t experience the full joy and purpose of what He’s started by merely receiving from Him but not actively participating with Him. We don’t garner new strength that way. We don’t build sturdy character that way. He wants us to see our weakness mixing with His strength, causing our work to actually . . . work.
Then when we’ve done all we can do, we don’t let ourselves receive the accolade for what we know deep down belongs to the One who started this whole thing to begin with. So we hand it back to Him, letting Him seal it for all eternity. He takes our work. He ties the knot. And it is done.
Zechariah 4:6
Not by our might. Not by our power. But by the Spirit of God.
Romans 8:11
If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Pastor Dale
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