1700 Blair Street, Richmond VA

Church #158 was an online visit to New Generation Church, and what a powerful reminder it was that God is not done yet.

From the very beginning of the service, I loved how the church started out praising God and being thankful, naming reason after reason for gratitude. There was something so beautiful and so right about that. We as people, can so easily wake up and begin with complaining, fear, heaviness, or frustration, this church began with thanksgiving. Even in hard seasons, there is always still something to thank God for. Even when life is painful, He is still good. Even when prayers feel delayed, He is still faithful. Even when we do not understand what He is doing, He is still worthy of praise.

And I loved learning more about the heart of this church.

I was so touched reading how Michael and Danielle Hathaway launched New Generation International Ministries in 2008 with a clear mission to build and restore individuals from all walks of life by connecting them to Christ. I love that. I really do. Because there are so many people walking around looking whole on the outside while carrying broken places on the inside, and the church should always be a place where restoration is possible.

The Scripture reading came from Philippians 1:2-6, and what a word that was:

Grace and peace to you… I thank my God every time I remember you… I always pray with joy… being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

That is one of those passages that can hold you together when life feels like it is trying to tear you apart. Because sometimes the only thing you can cling to is the fact that if God started it, He will finish it. If He began the work, He has not abandoned the process. If He called you, He has not forgotten you in the middle.

And the sermon title said it all:

The Job Is Not Finished.

I think so many of us love the happy seasons. We shout when something starts. We rejoice over the promise. We celebrate the fresh word, the open door, the glimpse of hope. But do we still praise in the middle of the process? Do we still trust when the road gets long? Do we still worship when things are not moving the way we expected? Do we still believe God is working when all we can see is wilderness?

That is where our faith really gets tested.

One of the examples Pastor used was Kobe, and I thought that was such a strong picture: momentum is not the same as victory. That will preach. Because sometimes we mistake movement for arrival. We think because something is happening, it must mean we are done. But just because there is momentum does not mean the mission is complete. Just because God has brought us this far does not mean He has finished what He intends to do in us.

And I think that is important, because many of us want a quick work from God. We want Him to hurry up and heal it, hurry up and fix it, hurry up and open it, hurry up and answer it. But God is often far more interested in building us in His time. He is more interested in finishing what He started than in giving us something fast that leaves us undeveloped.

When I look back over my own life, so much of what God has done in me has taken time. Painful time. Slow time. Hidden time. Wilderness time. And I do not always like that. I do not think most of us do. But I am learning more and more that just because it is not easy does not mean it is not God.

That is a word right there.

Just because it is not easy does not mean it is not God.

God never promised easy. He promised to be with us.

That is different.

And I think sometimes we forget that. We assume that if the path is hard, maybe we missed Him. If the waiting is long, maybe we misunderstood Him. If the process hurts, maybe He has left us. But the Bible never teaches that. In fact, the Bible shows us again and again that God often does His deepest work in the wilderness.

And we cannot get frustrated in the wilderness.

Or maybe I should say it this way… we do get frustrated in the wilderness, but we cannot let frustration make us quit.

Because wilderness seasons are harder than we imagine. They strip us. They expose us. They humble us. They show us how much of our confidence was really in comfort, control, and visible outcomes instead of God. But what if the delay is part of the development? What if what feels like a slowdown is actually the hand of God doing deeper work? What if God is not ignoring us at all?

What if God is investing?

There have been many times in my own life when I have wondered why something was taking so long. Why healing was so slow. Why certain doors stayed shut. Why certain seasons dried up. Why things that looked promising suddenly ended. But I am learning that God will close doors on purpose. God will dry up seasons on purpose. God is not going to open every door just because we want it open. And honestly, thank God for that. Because His “no” has protected me more times than I understood in the moment.

Sometimes God holds the blessing until we are mature enough to know where it came from.

Sometimes He holds it until we know it was all Him.

That is mercy. That is love.

The devil would love nothing more than for us to get tired, distracted, offended, discouraged, or talked out of obedience before the work is complete. The devil wants to persuade us to quit. To talk ourselves out of what God said.

But the devil is a liar.

God is still here.
God is still good.
God is still providing.
God is still building.
And the job is not finished.

We need to be reminded of who we are. We need to be reminded that we are not just wandering through life, trying to survive. We belong to God. We are His people. We are being shaped, called, refined, and completed.

Real faith learns how to still praise God when things are not going our way. Real faith learns how to endure. Real faith learns how to have confidence in difficult circumstances.

I know what it is to have human beings fail. I know what it is to be hurt, to be disappointed, to be let down, to be left carrying things that should never have been mine to carry alone. So when I hear a word like this, it does not just sound encouraging; it sounds necessary. Because my soul needs the reminder that God is not like people. He finishes what He starts. He stays. He builds. He completes.

Pastor also encouraged the church to read and pray Psalm 91. There is something so powerful about not just reading His word, but praying it. Speaking it over your life. Speaking it over your home. Speaking it when you are afraid. Speaking it when you are weary. Speaking it until your soul remembers who your God is.

We need to begin to believe in the Spirit of completion. We need to stop measuring God’s faithfulness by how easy the road is. We need to stop assuming that hard means wrong. We need to stop talking ourselves out of the very work God is trying to do in us. We need to trust Him with all of it, the delay, the wilderness, the silence, the shut doors, the long process, the hard building season.

Because the job is not finished.

And thank God it is not.

Thank you to New Generation Church for such a timely and powerful online service. Thank you for your heart for restoration, your commitment to the community, and your faithfulness to preach the Word of God. It was a blessing to visit and to be reminded that God is still building, still refining, still restoring, and still carrying His people all the way through.

And as always, I cannot wait to see where the Holy Spirit leads next.

But this morning, the thought that stays with me is this,

Do not quit in the wilderness.
Do not let the enemy talk you out of what God is still doing.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.

The job is not finished.

Love you all,

Annie Stewart Lambert