Tag: race

Struggling to Finish…

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Transparent moment…I have difficulty finishing things. I have gotten much better over the years but I struggle when I get to the end of a thing. It often takes a lot of encouragement, caffeine, and a little bit of prodding to accomplish the task at hand. I start off excited, strong, hopeful and as the end nears impatience, fatigue, and frustration sets in – all deterrents from finishing strong. Can you relate?

As I was reading the story of Gideon, it dawned on me that I am not alone.

After overcoming insecurity and becoming the valiant warrior that would defeat many – just as God said he would – he settled for complacency. Settled for doing things the way his people were accustomed to. Returning to what was familiar, perhaps even easier. What happens to us, happens to many. After a strong start, after seeing how God can work through us and on our behalf, we try to finish in our own strength.

Gideon and I are not alone. We share company with Noah (who decided to turn up after being spared from the flood), Moses (who hit the rock because his people were getting on his nerves) and Jehoshaphat (who thought it would be a good idea to help God out by making a deal to protect his people) to name a few. God’s chosen people who temporarily lost sight of the power they had access to and instruction they received to finish their race strong.

As we close out 2021, let us be reminded of the words of Brother Paul and finish our race strong. Whatever it is you need to finish before the end of the year, get back to it, pour yourself into it and finish your race strong. Keep the faith!

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” -2 Timothy 4:7

You Were Running Well..What Happened?

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“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth?”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:7‬ ‭NIV

We start with such excitement and passion over a new beginning, a new idea, a new acquisition, new relationships….so on fire and committed. Then something happens. We hit a roadblock that causes us to lose momentum, discipline, or even hope.

You were doing so well. Life was good. You were living the best & blessed life…#GOALS…that is until life happened. An unexpected hurdle gets in the way and sends us in our feelings limping back to the sidelines.

So what happened? Who or what cut in on you?

Was it illness? Death of a loved one? Family issues? Busyness? Insecurity? Rejection? Opinions of others? Lack of faith?

One day during my quiet time, the question leaped right off the pages of Galatians…”Who cut in on you?”. Though Paul was speaking to a group who had started strong by faith that were being misled by false teachers, it was as if Brother Paul was speaking directly to me in that moment. Who/what did you allow to quench your fire? What made you lose focus? Who told you that you couldn’t do that thing God told you to do? Who told you weren’t enough?

I thought long and hard about that question. I had allowed quite a few hurdles to trip me up….grief mixed with a whole lot of busyness, add in getting my only child through his senior year of high school (and all of the emotions that come with it), a dash of rejection and oh…trying to help everyone else run their race. Fatigue and frustration cut in causing me to check out of my own race. I had momentarily lost sight of the end goal and what team I was running for.

Well it’s time to get back on track, refocus, and run the race like a champion. I might have got cut off but I am not counted out (Thanks be to God) and neither are you. So friend, if you haven’t been running well, there’s still time on the clock.

Run well.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

– Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 NIV