FINISHING STRONG PART 1

FINISHING STRONG:
The secrets to a successful Spiritual Journey.

"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through Faith and Patience inherit the promises.......And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise". Hebrews 6:12 &15

I am not a fan of Athletics, especially field events. But I have little flair for track events which constitute myriads of race such as;
-. Relay
-. Hurdling
-. Marathon
-. 100 meter race, 200, 400 meters race etc.

The race I love so much that has ministered to me over time which will form part of our discussion are Hurdling, Relay and Marathon race. But before we continue, let's get a quick knowledge of them.

1. Hurdling : Is the sport of racing over hurdles: A hurdle therefore is each of a series of vertical frames that a person or horse jumps over in a race. A race in which runners have to jump over hurdles to finish the race.

2. Relay Race : A race between teams in which each member of the team runs one section of the race. e.g 4x100m relay. A fresh set of people that take the place of others that are tired or have finished a period of work in the race.

3. Marathon : A long running race of about 42 kilometers or 26 miles. This type of race might even take an hour to get to the Finish line. If you have interest in Athletics you will be acquainted with what I just shared.

Track events has been in existence for so many years. If am to estimate how long, I will assume above 1000 years. Because Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24 used a race as an analogy in expressing Spiritual truth.

It might be true that Athletic (track event) was the profound sporting activities in his days as much as we have football (soccer) as one of the profound sports in our days. He (Paul) used what was profound and easy to comprehend in presenting the expository of God's word.

In our days, we have types of this Athletics Paul used as his analogy in buttressing the truth of God's word, which we have explained briefly above. But it is imperative to know that they are aimed at one thing.... THE PRIZE

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the Prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 1 Corinthians 9:24.

It should be clearly known to all that, we are in a race. There is a race set before us. Hebrews 12:1.
To many, they are in a race to fulfilling their career, dreams, fame, money, positions, and accolades etc. Many are in the race of outsmarting others and aiming at the best.
This misconceptions about the race has left many occupied with the Spirit of comparison and pride. It has also birth the passion for mastery through temperate in all they do to get all they set their heart to achieve against God's will. Little do they know that they only obtain a corruptible crown (Prize).

It is also quite unfortunate that many are running this race in a wrong lane, which will eventually lead them no reward or prize. Many are exerting their muscles and human ideologies thinking that is all it takes to reach the finish line and receive the prize.

Let me bring the types of race to fore in alignment to the Spiritual race set before us.
We are all in a Spiritual journey. We can only get to the finish line Strong (Reward- Heaven) or weak (No reward - Hell). There is no middle ground.

The end of life on Earth is the FINISH LINE, while the PRIZE (or Reward) is determined on how well we abide by the rules of the race.

Integrating the physical race to our Spiritual race.

1. We are in a relay race:

"Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witness....... Hebrews 12:1.

This clouds of witness are Christians, men and women who have ran this race before us and have released the baton to us in carrying the mandate of the kingdom to the ends of the Earth. The men of old, many of them reached their finish line Strong while others finished weak.

But I saw a man in the scriptures that got to His Finish line and was confused a bit whether to go for His reward or to stay and help others finish well. - Paul. The clouds of witnesses are watching and cheering us up to Finish Strong as we spread the light of His Word to the world.

1. There are hurdles in the race:

This hurdles are demonic manipulations set on the race to bring us down and discouraged from reaching the finish line. The devil has set different hurdles, types and sizes at every step before the finish line. This hurdles makes it rather difficult to make it to the end.

• This hurdles might be a frustration towards achieving a goal.
  -. Late Marriage.
  -. Disappointments
  -. Sin
  -. Unnecessary delay
  -. Barrenness
  -. Poverty
  -. Lack etc.

We need to be abreast that all these are aimed to place an impediment towards our race to the finish line. But so long we allow the Spirit of God to lead the way, He will give us the strength to jump over the hurdles set on our way.

1. This race is a Marathon:

I have observed keenly between a Relay race, Hurdling, 100-800m race, there starting point and rules are different in comparing with a Marathon. In a relay and other race, each athlete must maintain his lane till the Finish line, and the speed at which they take off from the start determines if they will finish 1st.

But it is not the case in a Marathon race. You start with speed in a Marathon, you will surely gas out before you know it, I promise you. Every participant know it's going to be a long race, so they start up by jogging their way through the distance. In marathon, the proverb "slow and steady wins the race" becomes the order of the race.

Our Christian journey is a Marathon race.
Many started with zeal and passion without aligning to the principles and rules of this journey, today they are faint in mind and has join the band wagon claiming God is unfaithful, while others their love has waxed cold and have fallen from the race.

They got to the first hurdle and scale through, they got to the second and third, at the fourth they smashed at the hurdle. It might be a terrible mistake that they feel they can't recover from. So they remain at the spot where they fell while the finish line becomes unreachable to them as programmed by the devil in their mind.

This fall becomes unavoidable because they were not familiar with the rules of the race.They were carried away by what they can get from the race rather than what they can give (sacrifice ) for the race. And because what they were envisioning from God didn't come when and how they expected, they collided with the hurdle in the race.

When I got born again, I was told that everything will be okay, but they never told me when? We took off with that zeal serving the Lord until we faced the first hurdle. There were times we need finance, we cried to God but it didn't come, we have to go and borrow to solve a need.

We prayed for the sick in faith, and instead of recovering, they died. We prayed for others, they got blessed and ourselves are left without the things we prayed for. We checked ourselves and cried for mercy if we have erred in any way. Our life seemed as if it was better than when we first believed.

Little did we know those are the demands of the journey. At a point the passion and the zeal we got started with will be tested. The real intent why we followed has to be prunned and test run to confirm it's solidity and genuineness.
It was then we came to the reality of the journey set before us; that it's a Marathon, filled with hurdles God allowed as a test to the Faith we claim to have in God.

At a point we felt like giving up, because most times we fell against the hurdles but after taking the water of life, we got refreshed to still believe God despite the pain and frustration. It was then I realized the secret to a successful Spiritual journey we all have been called to embark on. It is beyond how passionate we were from the beginning but our patience and strength to persevere till the end.

Many believers today have left the lane to take a rest in the web of the devil, they still come to church, but their heart is far away from the race set before us.

Join me tomorrow as i bring to you the concluding part of this article. I hope this add value and spiritual insight to you.

Remain blessed.
Amb. John C. Joseph
God's Change Ambassador.