Finishing Well

I started a new book this weekend and the first chapter was on finishing well. I found that quite ironic… why start with a message about finishing well? As I thought more about it, though, I realized that maybe it made more sense than I originally thought.

If we want to finish well, we have to start with the end in mind. We have to start with a goal, a purpose, a passion that drives us to complete the task, whatever obstacles we may face. We have to have something that helps us keep going when things get tough or when it doesn’t look like we are going to be successful.

Sometimes I want to do big things, great things for God. Sometimes I dream the dream, I talk the talk, only to find that I don’t know how to get started, how to keep going, how to finish and how to accomplish much of anything. All the mundane stuff of everyday life gets in the way, other priorities come up. Before I know it, I shove my God-sized dreams into a bottom drawer and out of the way. They were never meant to be anyway, I reason to myself. I’ll never know, though, because I never trusted God enough to step out, sort through the details, and direct my path.

I feel like that about my running right now. I have had a hard time getting started, getting focused on this half-marathon training. All the excitement and the God-sized dreams seem distant. The details are hard to work out. It’s challenging to get together with the group to run, the early nights and the cooler weather discourage me. The fun of the journey has given away to the very real challenge, and it seems overwhelming.

But then I remember about starting out on this journey. It started with the passion of a student and a God-given desire to run. She wanted to run this race and to raise money for Samaritan’s Purse. Her passion was contagious, and it was easy to get excited because she was excited. And then God starting working in it and other people got excited and before long, we were dreaming big dreams, not for ourselves, but maybe possibly what God could do through us. I remember thinking it sounded crazy, daunting, completely overwhelming, and I think that is what excited me about it. I knew it was something that was completely over my head and what I was capable of my own. I was drawn to the God-size challenge before me.

Somewhere along the way though, I lost that wonder of wanting to see what God could do. Like Peter, I took my eyes off Jesus and starting looking at the waves. And I started sinking, and all the dreams started sinking too.

I don’t think that book chapter was a coincidence today. When all is said and done, I want to finish well. I don’t know if I will be able to run this race, or if our group will be able to raise some tremendous sum of money. But I want to trust God to write the story, to work out the details. Regardless of how it turns out, I think God has something to teach me about trusting Him for the God-sized dreams and challenges in my life. I choose not to give up on Him and not to give up on those. It may or may not turn out the way I like, but I want to be faithful to run the race, to run a good race, and to do my part so He can be faithful to do His.

Philippians 3:14 – “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”