Finishing Well, Finishing StrongSampel

Put Time in Perspective

The idea of finishing is that the task or goal is time-bound. Time is a very important construct, it's the measurement unit of life. I do not know what year or what time of the year you are reading this devotional, but I am writing this, November 2021. I give the dates to provide context or premise on which this devotional is written.

In the next few weeks, this year will be over, it will become a memory, no doubt, for some, this has been a tough year, and for others, it has been a year of dreams coming through, but irrespective of the side the pendulum swung in your direction, the goal of this devotional is to let you know that you can still finish this year well, and you can still finish it strong.

You may be reading this devotional just 24 hours to a new year or 24 hours to a specific deadline, and yet that dream still looked far-fetched; may I remind you that God created time, but He doesn’t live in it, and he's not bound by it. Until the clock strikes 12 midnight, December 31 2021, or whatever year you are reading this, that goal you set is still possible. Keep hope alive.

October 30, 1207 BCE (Over three thousand years ago), the sun and the moon stands still for Joshua and his armies to conquer the Amorites (Joshua 10:12-13). God stopped the sun and the moon because He needed to get something done. That's the God you serve. You need to see God through the lenses of His possibilities, not the boundaries of your time.

Medically speaking, Sarah having a child in her 90s is impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible. The whole of creation took God six days to complete. When dealing with God, always put time in perspective because you serve a God that transcends its limits and boundaries.

How long a problem persists is not a valid indication of how long it will take to be solved. For a very long time, there was a famine in the land Samaria, it was so intense that parents were now cannibals of their children, but when it was brought to Elisha's attention, he said, “By this time tomorrow, in the markets of Samaria, six quarts of choice flour will cost only one piece of silver." In other words, in the next 24 hours, this famine is coming to an end. One word from God can settle it all.

There was a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years, as the Bible recorded it, for such a long time he would be by the side of Bethesda pool in Jerusalem, waiting for a helper to let him in into the pool. Unfortunately, for thirty-eight years, no one helped him. But when he had an encounter with Jesus, a thirty-eight years problem was solved, instantaneously. Sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning. It's never too late with God.

To finish this year well, and to finish it strong, do not be overly concerned with the passage of time, once you've played your part, when the time is right, God will make it happen. In a day, he can restore all that you've lost through the year. I have seen this before he can do it again.