Finish

It is with exception that I share this story of a TV journalist but I found this one to be an uplifting backdrop of a story of how God works through failure, humility, sorrows, valleys and mountaintops and I thought it was worth sharing.   

According to Newsweek, Shannon Bream,  Fox News newest host for the Fox News Sunday program, told a story on Twitter that I think is worth sharing as it is a reminder that God is always with us and helps us to grow even when our darkest hours are upon us. This was a show that Christ Wallace was the former host of. What a blessing that we have a Christian woman taking the reigns of a widely televised program on Fox news.  

The story is as follows: “Y'all, I got fired from my first my job, by a man who told me I was the worst person he'd ever seen on TV. He also told me I'd never make it in this business. I was humiliated. I cried ... a lot. I prayed ... a lot. That man did me a favor.

I had much to learn, and as I spent months getting anyone to return an email or a call I watched my tapes and got real with myself. She continued; There is always room for improvement, and believe me I needed it. I got a healthy serving of humility, and learned that God often allows us to walk through valley- for our own good. That was also true when I spent years in chronic pain and was ultimately diagnosed with a genetic condition that has no cure. 

God walks with us through our deepest sorrows, and celebrates with us on our mountaintops. Our circumstances may change, but He never will. I'm feeling especially grateful for that this week, and can't wait to start my new adventure.

I heard a sermon this past Sunday at the Vail Church and it was talking about how easy it is to start a journey but even more importantly is how we finish. We, as Christians, want to be successful in our Christian journey, and be a lasting influence on people we love and those who God has put in our path to help. 

I believe the story above is encouraging in that Bream shared how her journey in the race of life has not been without pain, and setbacks and a need to recalculate who she was and how God was/is training her and growing her as she is running her race.  She was transparent, in her pain, her defeats and now her victory. We all have pains, and sometimes they are overbearing and we feel like we are in an pit of  shame, distress, depression, failure, exhaustion and even hopelessness.  But if we reach our hand out unto God he will pull us from the sludge and help us to look at things differently and find that Hope that he has offered in life. 

Craig Smith, the pastor at the Vail Church offered three main points to finishing  well….with a finale at the end …encouraging us to Stay

Focused on Christ…

1)   Lose the Weight….seriously we think of “lose the weigh” physically when we hear this but he was talking about the baggage we carry around. The scars, the hurts, the grief, the past.  He was talking about running a race, and you never see a runner tying his two shoes together, it wouold entangle him and make him unable to run.  I loved that analogy. Hebrews 12:1a Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 

2)   Repentance…. It is not just a change of heart it is a change of choice.  We have a choice each day to try to live up to what we know is right or be tugged into caving into what we know are thoughts and actions that are burdensome and against  God’s will for our lives.  Luke 15:17-18 When he came to his senses, he said “I will set out and go back to my Father and sau to him “Father I have sinner against heaven and against you”. It is hard sometimes to take responsibility of the sins we knowingly have committed but God calls us each day to repent.

3)   Navigate the Pain….Sometimes the pain is so fierce in your heart that you want to crater  and instead of addressing it, there is a numbness that prevents you from actively seeking resolve.   Pain can be a deep bucket that can only be emptied by steadily making an effort to persevere and climb out of it by consciously trusting God and asking for the courage, wisdom and perseverance to carry on in a way that is hopeful.  It takes an effort each day, each moment and a willingness to search for the blessings that have been given to you and look for the tiny miracles that are before you.  HEBREWS 12:1B Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  (each of us has a race of our own to run….and God has provided strength, wisdom, and perseverance  for us at every turn and interval). 

4)   And finally… EYE the PRIZE….when running a marathon I have heard that your body is weary and spent by the end of the race but what keeps us going is that you can see the finish line.  Don’t let the shiny earthly objects  deter you. Keep the distractions at bay. And don’t let the world trick you into believing lies that cause you to get pulled away for what is true! Our finish line is an eternal home in heaven with Christ.  And it is there that a crown awaits us that will last forever. 

HEBREWS 12:2 Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Jesus didn’t tap out, he didn’t quit, he didn’t give up….and he suffered greatly so that we could be free from  the grips of our own sin. … May we have the same drive and determination to hang in there with hope and endurance and faith when things get rocky and life is hard.  

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!

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