If you are feeling weary, worn-out, or exhausted, remember Paul’s exhortation to finish the race that God has called you to. Ask God for the strength to finish well!
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about finishing well.
The book of Acts records the golden days of Paul’s ministry. Oh, those were the glory days, the days of powerful answers to prayer, miraculous visitations from angels. Back in the days recorded in the book of Acts, it seemed no effort for Paul to be wide awake at midnight in a jail cell, praying despite his biting chains, having been flogged, but still singing hymns at the top of his lungs. Scripture tells us that jail doors flew open wide and everyone’s chains miraculously fell off. Prisoners applauded him and the jailkeeper was saved instantly. In fact, the jailkeeper invited him to his house. Things were looking up and missionary adventures were on their way. But if you look closer at 2 Timothy, Paul’s last epistle, you see a softer side. Paul was still in jail again when he wrote this epistle, but this time there was no miracle, no earthquake, no angelic appearance, and no escape. Many had deserted him, winter was approaching, and Paul felt old and tired. Abandoned by many of his friends, he struggled against sickness. His friend Trophimus was also sick, yet Paul couldn’t even do a thing to heal his friend. He couldn’t even heal himself!
Yet the old apostle did not allow discouraging circumstances to get him down. Things were different than the “golden days of old,” yet he hung on courageously to God. In fact, he says in the first chapter of his second and last letter to Timothy, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.”
Wow, I love Paul’s courage, because you know how it is – some days you feel life is on the upswing, and other days it’s flat. Sometimes you sense the miracle in your life, and other times – seems so ordinary. You could be energized one day to meet a challenge head-on, and the next day you feel tired and trapped. Life’s circumstances can make you feel like a yo-yo, but don’t allow the ups and downs to get you down. Remember Paul’s timeless words to Timothy, because sitting in a cold jail cell, feeling his aches and pains; lacking the comforts of life, he nevertheless says to his young friend, “Commit to God to fight the good fight… finish the race… and keep the faith.”
Now, I’m not sitting in a jail cell as Paul was when he wrote those stirring, courageous words, but I am sitting in a wheelchair, and like Paul, I am feeling the weariness of older age. There’s been no miracle, no escape from this paralysis of mine, yet I can look back over many decades of disability and, like Paul, I can boast in my affliction, delight in the infirmity, and glory in the limitations. And, oh, how I want to finish well. And look, you don’t have to be a senior like I am. No matter what age, you want to finish well whatever it is that God has called you to do, from a full load this semester at college, or the Bible study group you are leading. May we all fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith once delivered to the saints. Okay? So, I want you to pray with me today. Say, “Oh, Jesus, give me your strength to not allow life’s disappointments – along with age, and aches and pains, and illness – do not allow these hardships to dampen my faith. Help me, like saints of old, to finish well. In your name, Jesus, amen.” That’s a hope-filled prayer for you in your hardship today.
© Joni and Friends