When you were little did you ever race your friends? “I’ll beat you there,” heard as you ran to the sprinkler on a hot day. Then as you got closer and realized that you were gonna lose you just stopped running. The same thing can happen to us today. We can assume an attitude of failure, and just quit running. This can be something big like not finishing a degree we started, or as small as reading a chapter of a book, and heading for the next one that intrigues us at the moment.
I love to read, but lately I have gotten into a bad habit of starting a book and not finishing it because I am eager to read the information that piqued my interest in the next one. Although God sometimes orchestrates a specific read for me that gives me the information I need for that day, this has really, really become derailing.
This morning in my devotional time I found this little nugget of information:
“People who get into the habit of starting without finishing form the habit of failure.”
L. B. Cowman from Streams in the Desert
By continuing to be caught up in what else is out there we can miss what is right in front of us. The finish line. The prize. The accomplishment.
Just by losing my focus on the task at hand, or giving into the thought, I will fail so why try, I have lost the race. All because I lost endurance in moments I lost interest.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.
Hebrews 12:1 NLT
We have the opportunity at the beginning of every race to focus on the finish line.
Once we have gotten it into our sights, we need to keep the focus. We need to put blinders on to prevent us from distraction. In the Kentucky Derby this weekend the horses wore blinders to prevent distraction, and they were mounted by jockeys to guide and drive them toward the finish line. We can put on blinders by allowing God to guide us in our race. He wants us to finish.
Jesus saw the end from the beginning. What if He had not finished by allowing the anguish He felt in Gethsemane to derail Him from the will of God?
What do you do in your life currently to maintain focus on the finish? What can you change today to refocus on the finish? I love to hear your thoughts. Leave a comment with the answer. You never know who you may help run their race, Beloved.
❤ Melinda
Another Samaritan Woman 