When we finish a repair at The Garage, we don’t just hand the keys back and call it done. We take the car on a road test. The shop can only tell you so much. The road tells you the rest.
That’s worth remembering if you’ve put your trust in Jesus and you’re still struggling. Still losing your temper. Still fighting the same habits. Still wondering if anything really happened. If that’s you, I want to walk through the meaning of Philippians 1:6, because it was written for exactly that moment.
What a road test shows
A road test is how you find out whether the repair holds up under real conditions. Does the engine run smooth at highway speed? Do the brakes feel right? Is the alignment pulling?
And road tests don’t always go perfectly the first time. Sometimes you find something else that needs attention. Sometimes the repair uncovers a second problem nobody could see before. And sometimes a car has been driven out of alignment for so long that driving straight feels strange at first.
None of that means the repair failed. It means the car is finally on the road where you can see how it really runs. As I put it in Under the Hood, “The road test isn’t the end of the story; it’s the beginning of the story of a car that actually works.”
Something real happened
Let me say this clearly, because it matters. When someone genuinely trusts Jesus, something real happens. The Bible calls it being “born again.” The bill is paid. The relationship with God is restored. That part is complete, and it can’t be undone.
But the road test begins, and it lasts the rest of your life.
Christians have a word for that ongoing part: sanctification. It sounds technical, but it just means the lifelong work of becoming who you were made to be. Old habits don’t disappear overnight. Old ways of thinking take time to replace. There will be days when the alignment pulls hard toward the old patterns.
So if you’re a new Christian and you’re not perfect yet, welcome. Nobody is. Nobody who genuinely trusts Jesus becomes perfect overnight. But, as the book says, “nobody who genuinely trusts Jesus stays exactly the same, either.”
What Philippians 1:6 says
Philippians is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to a young church in a city called Philippi. Early on he tells them this:
“I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Look at who does the work in that sentence. Not you. He began it. He will bring it to completion. The weight of the whole thing rests on God.
That’s why I love this verse. The Master Mechanic doesn’t do half-repairs. He doesn’t start on you, get frustrated, and leave you up on the lift. What he starts, he finishes.
“The day of Jesus Christ” points to the day Jesus returns and sets everything right. That’s the finish line. Until then, the work is ongoing, and it’s in good hands.
How he does the work
God does this work on the road, not in a sealed room. According to the book, he uses a few ordinary things:
- Real life. Difficulty and joy, failure and recovery, and “the slow, steady accumulation of a life lived facing the right direction.”
- Other people. Community with others who are on the same road and can help you when you’re struggling. This is one big reason church matters.
- The Bible. I call it the owner’s manual that most of us never read until something went wrong.
Notice what isn’t on that list: willpower alone. You don’t grit your teeth into becoming a new person. You stay pointed in the right direction and let God do what he promised.
What to do when it feels like the repair didn’t take
Here are a few honest, practical things for the days when you wonder whether anything changed.
- Look at direction, not perfection. Ask whether you’re facing a different way than you used to. A car that pulls a little but is headed down the right road is in far better shape than one flying the wrong direction.
- Tell someone. Struggles grow in the dark. Find one Christian you trust and be honest about where you’re stuck.
- Read a little every day. Start with the Gospel of John. A chapter a day is plenty.
- Get back up. Failing doesn’t disqualify you. It’s part of the road test. Admit it to God, turn around again, and keep going.
- Pick one small thing. One of the discussion questions in the book asks, “What would it practically look like for you to ‘face the right direction’ this week?” Choose one concrete answer and do it.
Give yourself the patience God gives you
Picture someone who trusted Jesus six months ago and still loses their temper in traffic. It would be easy for them to decide the whole thing didn’t work. But being unfinished isn’t the same as failing.
If that’s you, take the pressure off. You are not the one responsible for completing the repair. God is. Your part is to keep facing the right direction and keep driving. Over time, sometimes slowly and sometimes with frustrating setbacks, the car runs better than it ever has.
That’s the promise in Philippians 1:6, and it’s one of the reasons I wrote Under the Hood. If you’re new to all of this, or if you’re walking alongside someone who is, it’s a short, plain place to start. It’s the first book in The Garage series, and it’s written for people with no church background at all.