Fighting to Finish

If you read I & II Kings, you see accounts of different kinds of kings who reigned over Israel and Judah. Generally their accounts fall into one of four categories:

• Started badly, ended badly
• Started well, ended badly
  
• Started badly, ended well
• Started well, ended well

A few years ago while driving, we listened to Gordon MacDonald and Bill Hybels discussing the importance of finishing well. These men, who admit to both good years and bad years, want to be remembered for finishing the race well.

But then, I began to wonder if we ever think in terms of finishing a year, or a month, or a week, or even a day well. A month ago, I made a list of all the personal goals I had been striving for last year. I definitely got some things accomplished. Next to a few, I wrote, ‘not done.’ Next to one I wrote, ‘…total confusion;’ and next to a couple I wrote, ‘disaster.’ There are some things I just didn’t get done this year, and there are some other things that sit on my personal horizon like an accident scene.

Despite this, I still feel that it was in some respects a good year. Each new one will probably contain an equal number of runs, hits and errors. My friend Ray, a symphony orchestra player, once told me, “It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you keep making new mistakes.” I would add, “…and learn from the old ones.”

This is the day, week, month, year… that the Lord has made. So how about you? Take a minute to honestly write up a personal scorecard or report cards, and then give yourself a rating in the areas that matter to you, and with a thought to how God sees our efforts and our motivation. Search me, oh God, and know my anxious thoughts.

Then set some realistic goals and personal vision; and in so doing, dream big.

~Paul Wilkinson, December, 2007