Finishing Well

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

~ 2 Timothy 4:7 ~

          Last week I read a quote from Beth Moore that really  got me thinking. The question she posed was, "Will you finish your race in the wilderness or in the Promised Land?" She was, of course, referring to Moses, who was unable to enter the Promised Land because he disobeyed God. Moses fought a good fight. He ran the race well. From being protected on the Nile as a baby, to the burning bush, to leading the people out of Egypt, to the parting of the Red Sea, to receiving the commandments of God on Mt. Sinai - Moses was used by God to do extraordinary things. But in Numbers 20 God told him to speak, and instead he smote. One act of disobedience. He didn't believe God, didn't take Him for His promises, and as a result his life ended while he was still in the wilderness. Moses's disobedience did not keep God from providing water to His thirsty children, but it did keep Moses from being able to lead them into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34:4). When I was thinking about all of this, I couldn't help but compare Moses to Paul in the New Testament. Paul not only ran the race well, but he also finished well. How many of us will be able to look back on our lives and say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." The odds are that most of have lost the faith at times. We don't always take God for his promises, we don't always trust what he tells us to do, and sometimes we disobey him because we think that our ways are better. God may continue providing your needs, just as he did for Moses and the children of Israel, but the question is - how will your disobedience affect you in the end? I don't know about you, but just seeing God's plan from a distance is not good enough for me. I want to be able to enter into the Promised Land. I want to be able to live the life God has planned for me, and I don't want my selfish disobedience to get in  the way of that. I want to fight a good fight and not only run the race well, but finish it well too. I want to take God for His promises and trust Him in all things. God used Moses, even in His disobedience, to show us what not to do. He used Paul to show us what to do. What kind of example do you want to be? Moses and Paul were both great men of God who made a lasting impact on the Kingdom of God. They both ran the race well, but only one finished well.
          Now, in looking at this from a different perspective, I looked at the lives of Cassie Bernall and Rachel Joy Scott. Maybe these names sound familiar to you, maybe you've never heard of them. Both of these young women's lives were cut too short, and although I never met them, they both have made a lasting impact on my life and I look forward to talking with them when we meet in Heaven. They are both considered modern  day martyrs because they were killed for their faith in Jesus Christ at Columbine High School just over 13 years ago. Unlike Paul and Moses, both of these girls finished the race well. However, they both took very different paths to get there. I can't explain their stories to you in all of it's depth, so I highly recommend that your read their stories for yourself (She Said Yes by Misty Bernall, Rachel's Tears by Beth Nimmo and Darrell Scott). Cassie did not always run the race well, she went through that rebellious teenage stage, and during that time her life was filled with bitterness, darkness, and anger. But God transformed her, and in the end of her life her faith in God was so strong that, even when confronted by her killers, she did not deny it. Like Paul, Rachel on the other hand, both ran and finished the race well. Of course she had her moments of struggle as well, we all do. But she sought God in all things, she trusted His word, and in the end He led her to the Promised Land - just as He promised.
          Maybe you haven't ran your race well up until this point. That's okay. Paul was a Christian killer before God saved him (Acts 9), and Cassie was involved in all kinds of evil before she surrendered her life to Christ. Just because you didn't start the race well, doesn't mean you can't finish well. Today is a new day, a new beginning. As long as there is air in your lungs, there is still time to make a change. Tomorrow is not promised though, so if you want to finish the race well then you need to start today!