A lot of races are won in the final lap. And you can’t start a new race if you don’t finish the old, I’ve learned this the hard way. In my twenties I would panic and quit the minute anything got challenging in ministry. I’d check out. Move on. Leave.
I never stayed long enough to find out why I was being asked to revisit the same Egypt over and over so the Lord kept sending me back.
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Because how we leave a season, how we exit a position, how we finish a year, how we start and end even a fitness program will impact how we enter the new thing every single time.
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If we leave offended we start defensive.
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Finish weak, start fragile.
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If we quit before our time we start with unfinished business.
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So the Lord keeps sending us back, like a patient Father who throws us back into the deep end, puts us back on the two wheel bike. We wobble and flail but He’s always within arms reach to pull us back in only to be pushed back out.
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And 2020 was the year our training wheels were taken off, our faith shaken and our hearts broken as we begged for it to be over. It would be easy to start 2021 defeated, call it off before it ever has a chance to get started.
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You’ve been stretched, challenged, isolated, dreams were put on hold, ministry redefined, platforms quieted, motives questioned, for some new passions were born and for others they died. Creatives either created or imitated and it was painful to self examine, to self evaluate in questioning if we truly loved God’s people or just a position on a stage.
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2020 was a year of shaking and pressing and breaking but we didn’t quit. Even though our lungs were bursting and muscles burning and hearts churning we kept running and we still have a few more days.
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We can’t stop now. Head down, eyes up we’re locking gaze with the one who has numbered our days committed to finishing what we started. Our kids are watching us, our friends are depending on us- and that’s not to put pressure on ourselves but to challenge ourselves to get out of bed, get in the workout, make healthy choices and commit to ending better than we started.
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Because our God finishes what He starts.
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He was faithful in 2020. He will be faithful in 2021.
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Great is His faithfulness.
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