Leaving the work unfinished

That's something we have to come to terms with as we leave England. There are some things that we've been working for that are going to seem unfinished. There are dreams and plans that we will never see the results of, or if we do it will be as spectators rather than as participants. At the moment I'd say I'm adjusting to this without much panic or anguish - time will tell whether that remains the case! The reassuring fact is that we're not leaving things to nothing. Whoever picks up and carries on what we've been working for is part of a bigger, grander, plan. God's plan. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church: I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. And that's where I’m at.

I stole this title from this post from a Paddy Ashdown article I read earlier today. It's not breaking news because he penned it back in April 2007 before he finished his time as High Representative in Bosnia Herzegovina. One line it really jumped out. "Bosnia is the fulcrum of peace in the Balkans." That means it is important and it having peace is equally so. He was expressing his concern that "the opportunity to finish the job is being lost and that Bosnia will be left as a dysfunctional space that we do not have the will to reform but cannot afford to ignore."

So we're stepping from one situation where we must trust what we have started will continue to produce positive results into another situation where we must ensure the good works others have started are completed. In it all we trust God's faithfulness.