It's Not Over: Move Past Disappointment & Dream Againনমুনা

Finish Strong

There’s a brief season in New England that people in the rest of the country call “spring.” We call it “home-project season.” On one particular spring day, Jennifer and I were putting together our to-do lists for outside projects. My job was to paint the upstairs balcony, which was in pretty bad shape. Jen’s job was to repaint the shutters from green to black after I removed them from all the windows around the house. I’d rented a hydraulic lift from Home Depot, and I was working on the balcony when Jen came outside. “See you soon, honey,” she said. “I’m picking up the boys from school.” When Jen’s car pulled out into the road, I lowered myself back down to the ground for a break and to enjoy the confidence of safety. That’s when I had an idea. I decided to surprise my wife by giving her a head start on her project. I realized I would have just enough time to take down one of the sixteen shutters, paint it, and get it rehung before she got home. I took down one of the shutters from the front of the house, got it painted, and then put it back looking all shiny and new. When Jen and the boys pulled in the driveway, I was sitting casually on the porch. As soon as she got out of the car, Jen asked, “Why did you bring the lift out front?” I answered with a wry smile. “No reason.” I resisted the urge to look over at the shutter because I wanted her to see it for herself and think, That’s my man! Unfortunately, Jen wasn’t buying it. “Joshua,” she said, “what did you do?” I gestured toward the window with my chin and said, “Shutter.” Jennifer freaked out, jumping up and down and clapping her hands together. “I love it!” she cried. “Thank you so much! And let me know when you finish the next one.” Then she gave me a big hug and shuffled our boys up the stairs and inside. Filled with pride, I stood on the lawn and admired my work for a full thirty seconds before Jennifer’s words really landed. “Let me know when you finish the next one . . .” Oh no. Wait a minute! What have I started? And then it hit me: I had painted one shutter on the front of the house. I’d failed to realize the placement would leave one black shutter in a sea of fifteen green shutters. There’s no way out, I thought. Now I have to remove, paint, and rehang fifteen more shutters! I begrudgingly had to finish what I started. I’ve learned that, in most cases, starting something is much more exciting than finishing it. Getting started requires little more than a dream or a passion while finishing requires lots and lots of work, faith, and resiliency. This isn’t a new phenomenon; our culture continuously struggles to finish strong. We love signing up for gym memberships, but we rarely hit our weight-loss goals. We love opening new credit cards, but we’re not disciplined in making payments. We’re great at starting families, but we find it much more difficult to keep them intact. We show up on the first day of work with a lot of passion and promise, but then we find ourselves going through the motions months later. Unfortunately, we’re also not great at finishing strong when it comes to following Jesus. As you complete this reading plan I want to challenge you not only to begin pursuing your dreams but to see them through to completion. Can you imagine what it would be like to live out your dream and to chase after your desired future with the same urgency, commitment, faith, and passion you had when you first began? My prayer today is that you experience the joy of achieving your dreams because you ran with the endurance required to make it to the finish line.

Prayer

Jesus, thank You for the dreams You have placed within me and for choosing me for the specific life, abilities, experiences, and hopes you have given me. Today, I promise that I will honor Your love for me by finishing strong for as long as I have breath in my lungs!

Respond

What are some times you can remember starting something with great intentions but failing to finish it with the same passion, energy, and excitement?

What guardrails or practices can you put in place in your life today in order to keep you on the path to finishing your dreams strong?