Josh McCown was a quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019. It was his 11th NFL team in a career spanning 18 years. In a YouTube clip, Josh begins his story with, “You dream what life as an NFL quarterback would be like …” 

But he continues his story saying, “This thing is going a lot different than I thought. There are paths that [God is] going to cross in your life and you don’t even know they’re coming and what you are going to do when you hit them.”

Josh McCown’s career unfolded far differently than his hopes and dreams. Each one of us can track the twists and turns in our lives and wonder how life will end up. This much is certain — the work that God began in our lives, He will complete. 

No circumstance can derail God’s work in our lives.

When we put our faith in Christ and enter a relationship with Him, He begins a lifelong process of making us more like Christ. We will stumble and limp and fail in that stretch between the starting line and the finish line of our lives. 

God will bring His work to completion “at the day of Christ Jesus,” when we stand before Him and are made perfect.

We are easily consumed with what we want out of this life and how we wish it would unfold. We are convinced that life would be so much better if we could control our circumstances. 

Just the opposite is true. It is the very circumstances that we would never choose that often become the most significant times of shaping our spiritual growth. 

If you haven’t read the Book of Philippians recently, take a fresh look at the apostle Paul’s perspective. He wrote from prison, sidelined from his ministry, but optimistic about God’s hand in his circumstances.

(See more about Tom’s ministry at http://www.catapultministries.org/)