Undone

“Wash, dry, fold, repeat.” Out of humor, I made a decal with these words to display on our laundry room door. My family reads it and laughs because they know the routine. The laundry basket piles up with clothes; someone washes it, dries it, folds it and, in the blink of an eye, the basket is full again. It’s a cyclical task that will never be complete. Our lives are full of bottomless laundry baskets.

As humans we struggle continuously with finding a place of completion. Tasks, projects and due dates crowd our space daily. There are times I find myself pressing to get the to-do list completed just to add another heap of tasks right back on the list in matter of minutes; yet, I press on. The desire for completion is a craving embedded in my soul. I yearn for that moment of not feeling undone.

I could see this yearning as a burden, but I must remind myself daily that it is a gift from the Lord. Isaiah 42:16 (NASB) says “I will lead those who are blind by a way they have not known, in paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn darkness into light before them and uneven land into plains. These are the things I will do, and I will not leave them undone.” Each time I long for completion and fall short of obtaining it is a reminder that as long as I reside here on the earth I will never escape “undone”.

Refilled laundry baskets, unfinished to-do lists, never ending emails, grass that never stops growing, all remind me that I am a work in progress and there is hope. Isaiah said the Lord will lead me down unknown paths through the darkness and uneven lands into the light He has placed before me. The struggles along these paths will mold and shape me to be more like Him. He will make a way where there seems to be no way and lead me to victory. One day, my walk here on earth will be done, and He will raise me up; He will give me a resurrected, eternal body to live forever with Him in a place of absolute completion. He will not leave me undone.

Oh, how I long for that day. Thank you, Jesus for a constant reminder that You are the only one who can ever guide me to completion. In Jesus name, I ask for peace and patience to endure the times I yearn to escape the undone. I thank you for the privilege to rest in the hope of eternity that You have promised me.