Finish

Finish

Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride.

THE EXCITEMENT HAD WORN OFF. We had moved a year and a half earlier, and the thrill over it had ended. I looked around, wondering what my next steps were—Where should I go? Who can I meet? What should I be doing?

And yet, in this season, God was constantly bringing me back to my home. To the people in my family. I knew that I was needed there. I knew that God brought us these kids, and their grief and trauma and attachment are all things I needed to deal with—but part of me wanted to run. As I dug my heels (figuratively) in the sand, I realized something about myself: I’m a good starter, but I’m not the best finisher.

I like the new thing—I have a hard time sticking with the old, especially when it becomes mundane or even drudgery. I’ve always had a tendency to be this way. I like the excitement of a new job. A new house. A new friend. But over time, when the work gets challenging, there’s a part of me that looks for a way out. A new place or even relationship.

But sometimes God asks us to stay. To continue to love. To be still. When everything in us tells us to leave or walk away for no other reason than things have gotten a little too hard. So much of what we go through in life feels more like a marathon than a sprint. Things unfold and happen over time and usually not on the timeline we’d prefer. It can be easy to start something new, but it takes determination to finish, and to finish well.

There is a refinement that comes when we finish. A change that happens in our character, making us more Christlike. Developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—in a way we may not otherwise grow if we walked away too soon. Allowing other people to see the stability we have as people who finish well.

Lord, help us to not only be people who start, but who finish. Amen.

-Kendra

One Good Step: What in your life is God currently asking you to finish? What is one step you can take to continue to stay in that place so you do finish well?