The Finishing Line
By Brenda Gittens
This week's topic: Finishing Well
The time is here again, the end of another year. For many reading this, 2011 has been a year of processing, shaping, formatting and fitting. Yes, the trials and hard times came, and are still here, but we have to really know and believe that they came, and are still here, only to make us strong.
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. (James 1:2-4, NLT).
In the year to come 2012, we can still experience God “having our back.” Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.” That is why we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6, NLT). And we can still give him what he wants presented from us. "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable." When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? (Romans 12:1, NLT).
We must have confidence deep down within that only comes from God the Father. We must know who we are in him and move forward in him. If there are folks running the race with you on the ‘track field’ who want to turn around or want to stop running and stay behind, you may have to tell them “Okay, I’ll see you later! 2012 for me is going to be a year of experiencing that vision, dream, or promise that I’ve been working on, holding on to, and waiting on God to do and complete through me.”
As this year comes to an end, there is one thing we can say: we’ve survived! A survivor is one who has remained existent and outlasted the circumstance and situation; one who didn’t give up, but hung in there. We’ve made it to the finishing line. Now all we have to do is cross over into 2012 and start a new ‘workout’ (processing, shaping, formatting, fitting), getting us ready for the upcoming experiences mentioned above. In the ‘workout,’ we have to put our total trust, increased faith, and dependency in and upon the coach of our ‘track team,’ the Lord our God.
Scripture Of The Day: “For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.” - James 1:3-4 (NLT).
