Finishing Strong

2 Timothy 4:⁷ “I have fought the good fight, an excellent fight. I have finished the race, my full course with all my might. And I have remained faithful, I’ve kept my heart full of faith.” (NLT & TPT, emphasis added).

To finish strong, you must Remember That Heaven Is Watching You. You must Eliminate What Doesn’t Matter. You must Run God’s Race For You. You must Minimize The Pain And Maximize The Future Reward. And the fifth thing is you must Keep Your Focus on Jesus and Not Your Circumstances. The real test of your faith is when life stinks. Where is the compass of your heart? That is the test of your faith. You do not know how strong you are when your life is rosy. You know how strong you are when your life stinks. When your life stinks, look around, who are the people standing with you? Those are your family and your friends.

As God moves you, He wants you to be rooted and planted, and He wants you to finish strong. Many of us have abandoned things that we started, projects, missions, or things that God placed in our hearts and hands. My question to you is what have you started that you need to finish? 2 Corinthians 8:^10-11 “I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do a year ago, for you were …the first to begin doing something about it. Having started… so enthusiastically, you should carry this project through to completion just as gladly, giving whatever you can out of whatever you have. Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now.” (LB, emphasis added). What commitment have you made that you need to complete?

Is it in your education? Some of us want to do a Ph.D., a Masters, or a Bachelors degree. There is no shame in it. Go back to that commitment and finish it. For some, you want to get out of debt. You started working at getting out of debt, but you abandoned it. You do not have to live with that debt for the rest of your life, finish what you started. For some it is a spiritual growth step you started, you need to finish that project. Hebrews 10:^35-36 “Don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.” (MSG). What have you started that you need to finish? What have you started that you are leaving hanging? Ask God, He will tell you.

Many people say things like it is when we get to heaven that we will know if we have done well. But Paul was able to tell. How can you be alive and say confidently, I have finished the race and I have remained faithful? Listen, if you are faithful, you will know. If you are following God, you will know. There is no ambiguity about it. What makes a man look at his life and say, I have done excellently well, and he is correct? That confidence can only come from God.

Prayer: Father, I pray that I will run my race, finish strong, and remain, in Jesus Name. Amen!