Freedom in the finish!

I have been writing a book for over a year. It has literally been one of the most challenging and draining experiences of my life. In order to finish it, I had to live it and that was not fun by any stretch of the imagination. There were a lot of starts and stops, revisions, revelations and struggles. There were days where I threatened to quit and days when I literally walked away from it. I had people in my corner, praying for me and pushing me to keep going it but I still felt like it was me and God playing the “staring game”. You know, the one to look away first would lose. You know how that went, right? Of course, I never won. Mainly because God wasn't playing games with me. He had an assignment for me to do and He was going to stick with me until I completed it. Well, I finally finished this past weekend! Hallelujah! This morning as I was looking at revisions, God told me that He was teaching me about the freedom that comes with the finishing. Whew! Friends, you have to finish what God has called you to do and you must make steps towards it today.

I really began to think about what to finish something. It means to bring something to an end or to completion. It's final stage.  As I went through this book process, I really desired to finish. It was my ultimate goal and what I pushed towards for months even when things got really hard. The thing about it is, life didn't have the same goal. Life, people, the enemy had different agendas but I still had to keep my eyes on finishing. Sometimes, I had to say no to my family and rearrange my schedule because I HAD to finish. What have you allowed to get in between you and completing your assignment? What have you used as an excuse to put off what needs to be done? You see, when God gave you that assignment, He already planned for the ending! He already blessed it and said it would be better than what you started with. How do I know? Well, Ecclesiastes 7:8a says that “better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” (ESV) It's time to get to work! There's a celebration waiting at the end of that thing and it will be better than what you imagined!

I asked the Lord to elaborate on the freedom part. Partially, because my book is about freedom so I didn't want to hear wrong just because I'm in that mode, but also because I thought freedom was a little bit of a stretch. He pointed me to Jesus! When you think about all that He had to endure on the cross, you don't automatically think about freedom. But the Lord reminded me about the work of ministry and the building of a Kingdom that Jesus did in those 3 years that He walked the Earth. He was writing the greatest story that you will ever hear and He finished it. He was very clear about His assignment and said things like, “Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”(John‬ ‭4:34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬) But more importantly, it's what happened when He finished the work of the cross and uttered the words, “It is finished.” Those words set the stage for resurrection and victory! Because He finished His assignment, you can live! Because He finished the assignment, you don't have to be bound to the influences of sin. Because He finished His assignment, you will have eternal life. What greater gift can finishing than freedom from death, hell and the grave!‬‬

Saints, don't keep putting off what God is calling you to do. There is a freedom dance waiting at the completion. There is a sense of accomplishment in knowing that you not only did what he said but you finished! Come on, saints, freedom is waiting on you to cross the finish line!

Amen