Press the arrow to listen to “Carry Me” by Hillsong while reading today’s devotion on keeping on.

Scripture
And 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. Philippians 1:6

Observation
Back in the 60′s and 70′s, when a TV show’s ratings dipped, producers would dangle the hero over the edge of death and then splash across the screen the words, “To Be Continued.” More viewers would watch the second part of the show, than the first episode, because they wanted to know what would happen next. “Who shot JR?” were the words on everyone’s lips, during the summer of 1980, as the nation was forced to wait 6 months to discover part two of the story. When part two came on the screen on November 21, 1980, 83 million viewers tuned in. Even the Turkish Parliament delayed sessions to find out what happened in part two of the story.

Life can feel sometimes like the droning summer heat of 1980, waiting to see what will happen next. The cliffhanger of life can abruptly interrupt what seemed to us an unending road into a happy future. Paul faced a cliffhanger in the months and years after starting a church in the city of Philippi. He had only a short time to work with the new Christians, until a riot forced him out of town. What would happen next?

Cliffhangers come whenever our plans are surprisingly and disappointingly interrupted. A death, a move, or the sack can wash out the bridge of our forward progress and leave us stranded.

There are three words that should keep us moving forward during interrupted seasons: to be continued. God is an author, and his work is our life. Just as there is a beginning of our story with him, there will be a better ending, because he is a finisher not just a starter. The end will always be better than the beginning, if we will have faith.

Application
There is a power at work in my life that is greater than any severing of hope I have experienced. That power is the resurrection power of Christ. The life in me is a growing thing, and pruning will only make it more vigorous. The word “continue” is energized in my life. I should expect great things to grow out of that word.

Prayer
Father, there are many severed cables of what I thought were your purposes that have left crackling bare wires where expectations short circuit in my life.  But I breathe in the hope of this verse and dare to believe that you are writing and the story is “to be continued.” Help me to live in expectation of better things and to be prepared for them to maximize them when they come. Amen.