It's Time To Finish What You’ve Started…
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin”
Raise your hand if you currently have a project, task, or assignment that needs to be completed, but for whatever reason it’s completion is hanging in the balance.
For you, it might be a diet or workout regimen that became far less attractive at the sight of that slice of red velvet cake. Trust me, I get it. Maybe it's a skirt that you began to hem and stopped because you couldn’t get the stitch quite right. Shoot, maybe its the pile of laundry that’s forming a small village in the corner of your bedroom. Or maybe, it’s a song you began writing but somewhere along the line you were convinced that no one would listen. Perhaps, it’s a book you were writing or reading for the past 100 years and you’re still on chapter two. Okay, that one was for me lol.
Regardless of what your thing might be I’m sure you have at least one. I mean don’t we all?
So why is it that we don’t finish what we start?
Reasons That We Quit, Procrastinate, Deflect, Or Stall:
Fear Of Failure: The reality is as we walk with God He will ask us to do things that may feel like how David must have looked standing before Goliath. For reference, that is a 16 year old child going against a 9 ft undefeated warrior. Yikes!
Except… God was with David. It was a prefixed fight. You know what that meant? There was no possible way that David could have lost because God, Himself, had already gone ahead of David securing His victory. The same is true for you and I, Beloved.
The Opinions Of The Nosy Bunch: “What will people think if I do this? How will I look? What will they say?” You and I have all asked some variation of these questions at one point or the other. The funny thing is, humans have this really strange tendency…to talk. But what I’ve learned is that if you do, or even if you don’t people will still talk. So according to that logic, their words aren’t a good reason to not move forward. You may as well go forward and do the things God is requiring of you and give them something better to talk about! Moreover, their opinions belong to them and NOT you.
Feeling Inadequate, Unprepared, Unqualified:
The thing about faith is that it often requires us to live outside of our comfort zones. It may require us to go where we don’t feel equipped to be. Just ask Peter about the water walking. At this very moment you may be thinking, “I don’t have the resources”, or “I never went to school for this.” While that may be the case, God has a history of not calling the qualified, but in His utter amazingness, He qualifies those He calls. So, if God is calling you to a task that feels bigger than you; great! It means that you can only look to Him to be and do all that you cannot. Trust Him.
The Business of Busyness There is so much that I could say here, but I won’t. After all, we all know the truth; we make time for what we value. We shower, eat, get dressed, go to school and work, make sure our the people we love have what they need and somehow manage to squeeze in 30 minutes for our favorite show. Why? Because we value these things, we see them as a necessary part of our routine. If that is the case, how much more should we value the assignments that God has given us?
I’ve Tried Before… We all know the old saying, if first you don’t succeed, try, try, again. I could list the highly successful people in our society whose story is one of immense failure before massive success. Steve Jobs, the maker of Apple, Oprah, Walt Disney, David Ramsey or the 2nd richest woman in the world (go read her story!). All of these people faced rejection, loss, and the list continues, but they persisted. Failure is not an indication that you are on the wrong path, sometimes a no is an opportunity for your faith to be built up.
Beloved, you have to stop believing the lies. Trade it in for the Truth; what God says about you. I am enough. I am qualified by GOD. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” -Phillipians 1:6
Yes, I wrote that in first person on purpose. One, because honestly, I am encouraging myself just as much as I am encouraging you. Also, I want your brain to process these words as personal declaration. You need to believe this. God has not and will not leave you out to dry. He is FULLY invested in your life, mission, and the promise and purpose over your life.
A scripture that has flooded my life recently (in the best possible way) is taken out of the book of Isaiah, chapter 41, the 10th verse. It reads,
“So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Throughout this week, carry this scripture with you. Carry it in your heart, or maybe even in your wallet. Hold it tightly. Be assured that whatever needs to be completed in your life through the strength of Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit you will see it to the end.
No longer will we allow the wonderful gifts that God has for us to be deterred because we have bought into the lies of the enemy. We will move forward with boldness, knowing that God has us in the palm of His hands. We will finish, and finish strong in Jesus’ name.
See you at the finish line, Friend.
