Finish Well

The truth about finishing well is described in part by Parker Palmer: “The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without hope, faith, and love.” ( Tyler Staton)

‘Finishing well’ can be also be termed as sustainability, endurance, or perseverance. We can thrive and grow, or shrivel into negativity and cynicism.  Finishing well is a ‘long haul’ view of living, no matter if we are 18 or 108 years old.  The key is paying attention to what God is saying to us, doing in and around us.  There is no room for being passive or playing the victim game.  Blaming our background or circumstances is just as lethal as the entitlement mindset.  None of us are better than the next guy.

The command to love God with our whole being without reservation is simple but life can be difficult and complicated. Our inner lives can be a mess and we can be our own worst enemy. We sometimes hit the wall and can be disoriented. We all need the Good Shepherd to lead us into green pastures with the promise of ‘surely goodness and mercy will follow me all my life.’ 

What is hindering you and me from finishing well?  

Galatians 5:7:  “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

What are the reasons we burn out, drift, get disillusioned, and drop out. Crises can be long standing issues that we cannot control or we can be hit by a torpedo out of nowhere.  Just because we have made a profession of faith does not eliminate the danger of calamity  but we are given profound promises and encouragement  our Triune God will NEVER leave us or abandon us, even in the face of uncertainty.

His kingdom is here, both in our moments of clarity and in our fog.  Eternal life is right now.  We are unceasing created beings with influence in our here and now moments, curious to what our Triune God will teach us about Himself  Loving Him because He loves us is our highest calling.  We cannot afford to be distracted with trivial matters.  Let’s pray that the Spirit empowers us, using our everyday issues to transform us into Christ like character qualities that make a difference for Him.  Our time is short but His plan is awesome.  

“Living a life of faith can can be like looking into a mirror dimly most of the time.  I can kind of make out some shapes, and k have an idea of what might be there, but it’s hard to feel certain about exactly what I’m looking at.” (Bob Goff, Catching Whimsey, page 154)

I’m hoping it’s helpful to verbalize my desire to finis well.  One of my biggest fears is not being needed, a burden, or Simone to avoid.  I want to be a finisher, a learner, curious about what ghe kingdom is all about.  

 Proverbs 4:4 states: “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the oxen.” To be a finisher, I need commitment, loyalty and allegiance, even when I don’t feel like sticking with it. If the goal is a clean barn, there is no need for oxen. But if I want to participate in kingdom work, I have to make the effort.  Kingdom work is a community effort, not only letting go of what I cannot control but helping others move on. I cannot be afraid of messes  working in the barn can be smelly, sweaty, and dirty.

Being a finisher may mean that I will not see the finished work. His kingdom is His work, not mine.  1 Corinthians 15:58:  “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Bus Drivers by Michael Sprague

God chooses. God calls. God equips. God unleashes. People across the board are becoming increasingly aware of a purpose-driven life and calling. God saved us to serve and we “are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). Who are you? You are a plainclothes agent in the Jesus Revolution, the only revolution that will ultimately endure. You are a full-time servant of God who happens to bring home the bacon by being a carpenter, sales associate, banker, or whatever. Getting the concept of calling motivates and promotes sustainability, particularly when it’s easy to quit. 

I’ve heard Gordon MacDonald help people understand this sense of calling  from his days while pastoring in New York City. Over the years, Gordon befriended many city bus drivers and occasionally had a few over to his home for breakfast. One driver commented how Gordon had an interesting job helping people, but all bus drivers do is drive dumb buses. Gordon replied, I have an idea for all of you…Look, I believe that God will make any job interesting if we believe He wants to use us. Now here’s what I suggest. Tomorrow morning before anyone gets on your buses, close the door, face all the empty seats, and say loudly, “In the name of Jesus, I declare this bus a sanctuary for the next eight hours. And I declare that all the people who enter this sanctuary will experience the love of Christ through me, whether they realize it or not.” At first the drivers thought Gordon was crazy, because isn’t it peculiar to think of New York City buses as sanctuaries? But after the shock one by one each of the drivers affirmed they would give it a try. When Gordon saw his friends over the coming months he’d ask them what they were driving, and they’d always smile and say, “A sanctuary, man, a sanctuary.” One bus driver commented that this new sense of call had changed his life and perspective. He said, “Well, you know, this sanctuary stuff. I’ve been doing it. And it works. Each day I’ve been turning my bus into a sanctuary, and it’s made all the difference in the way I do my job. Why, the other day a guy got on my bus, and he was so mad at me because I wouldn’t let him off at a stop that was illegal. He cussed me out something awful. And you know what? There was a day when I think I would have gotten up and let him have it. But not in a sanctuary.” “So what happened?” “I let him off at the next stop and said, ‘Hope you have a good day, sir. Nice having you aboard.’ And a lady behind me said, ‘Charlie, how can you be so nice to a jerk like that?’ I just muttered to myself that it wasn’t hard if you were driving a sanctuary and not a bus.” 

Gordon has told this story many times over the years. He has discovered that some pilots fly sanctuaries instead of 747s for Delta, and some surgeons operate in sanctuaries and not operating rooms. Callings change people’s lives and perspectives.

Michael Sprague:

Watch Bitterness

Unresolved conflict, bitterness, and seeking revenge are powerful agents that sap strength, drain joy, and exhaust emotions. Maybe you can relate. The truth is if you live long enough, sooner or later you will get hurt. Little things happen and you forget about them, but some things are not so easy to forget, like betrayal, abuse, abandonment, divorce, unfaithfulness, lying, injustice, etc. These things are heavy, hurtful, and hard and often lead to bitterness, resentment, and a preoccupation that tends to color everything.

Are you holding a grudge, pointing a finger, and replaying a tape over and over? Is anybody on your dartboard? Are you “rotisserizing” certain people by turning them over and over in the flame of your mind?  

Ephesians 4:32: “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God, in Christ also has forgiven you.” 

I went through a hurtful time once that I couldn’t shake easily. I ended up talking to a counselor/pastor type who focused me on Ephesians 4:25-32. He asked me to read Total Forgiveness by R.T. Kendall. He then suggested I write out my loss in a letter, share my heart and hurt, and make a declaration of forgiveness as an act of my will. The counselor said I should take the letter and release it. He told of how one person burned a letter like this, another flew it as a paper airplane from a mountaintop, and another let it go in the ocean. 

I carved out some time and carefully wrote a letter and made a choice to forgive. I took that letter to an old abandoned cemetery with tombstones dating back to the 1800s. I read the letter before God, tore it up, and placed the pieces under a broken tombstone. While I was walking out of the cemetery, I saw “danger” signs for a Wasp Research Testing site being conducted by a university, so I kept my distance. It was like the Holy Spirit was telling me, “Don’t come back here or you’ll get STUNG.” I went home feeling free. Forgiveness does that. 

Remember the old Andy Griffith show and the town drunk, Otis? Otis would be put in jail and the keys would be placed right outside the cell door. Any time he wanted to leave, he could let himself out. God does the same with bitterness. We lock ourselves in our own jail, yet God leaves the keys of forgiveness right by the door so we can let ourselves out and be free—if we want to. Do you need to reach for the key?