Finishing Strong

SEVEN STEPS TO FINISHING STRONG

Ready! Set! Go! The boom of the cannon gun took the athletes from their knees to their feet. Swift feet ran across the tracks as the umpires stood by the sidelines to ensure that none of the runners was flouting any rule. Two minutes into the race, an athlete fell, and a minute later, another tripped and fell. The others kept running as though their lives depended on it but their determination was no match for the hurdles along the tracks. While some fell and were rushed out of the field, some lost their initial fire and began to dawdle along the track. Only a few ran to the end of the field and only one made it to the finish line in time. As the crowd cheered and the judges clapped, the winner raised  her hands up into the air.  It was a silent acknowledgement of the One who had brought her thus far; it was a token of gratitude to the One who had helped her finish strong.

It is official! 2022 is almost over. Just like many of the runners in the story, many who started the year with good plans and great determination are nowhere to be found. Some who started strong have fizzled out like smoke. The fact that you made it to the last month of the year is more than enough reason to be grateful to God. His grace has brought you this far. As the curtains of the year draw to a close, there are seven things that will guarantee you a strong and gracious ending. These things will also prepare you for a powerful take-off into 2023.

1. BE GRATEFUL

You are like the winner in the story above and you couldn’t have made it this far without God’s mercies. Regardless of what you see around you or what your economy says, God deserves your thanks for keeping you throughout the year. Every day before the end of the year, thank God profusely. Thank Him for all that He has done and thank Him more for what He is yet to do. Gratitude is a way to seal and preserve the good things that God has done for you. It is also a way to hasten the things that He wants to do for you. Count your blessings and name them one by one. Give God extravagant thanks as the year ends. You might face pressure to berate yourself for the things you haven’t done well; push that pressure aside and appreciate God for the things you did well. Don’t compare yourself with others and don’t spend the last days of this year trying to repair the past. Instead, spend it in gratitude and in preparation for the new year.

2. REFLECT AND ACT

As you give God thanks, reflect on the year. Your reflections will help you see the things you still need to work on before the year ends. Don’t be casual about this. Take out time every day to think deeply about how the year went. As you identify the areas where you succeeded, take note of the areas you didn’t do so well too. Then, ask the Lord to help you in those areas. Also, be intentional about improving in the areas you identified. Get books you can read to become better and take courses if you have to. How you end this year will determine how you begin next year. Leave nothing to chance and don’t push the things you can do this year till next year. Have you watched football matches where all hope seemed lost until someone scored a goal during the extra time? You can still nail that goal and achieve that dream at this last hour. Reflect and act!

3. KNOCK FEAR OUT

Fear is a thief.  Don’t let it in. Don’t allow the fears of your past failures to keep you from reaching out for the best in this final session. Don’t listen to fearful projections about ‘Ember’ months or about the new year. Knock out that fear with God’s word. Shut out its loud lies with the truth of God’s promises. God’s plans for you are good and His thoughts towards you are perfect. Believe this and confess it too. If you have experienced unpleasant happenings in the last month of previous years, don’t anticipate evil. Search out God’s promises for you for the end of the year. One of them is that He will crown the year with goodness for you. (Psalm 65:11). Let this be your prayer point and confession. Dig deep into God’s word and refuse to give fear any room at all. God still has ‘prepared blessings’ for you in this last month. Don’t allow fear to steal them.

4. MAINTAIN POSITIVE CONFESSIONS AND PRAY

When the twelve spies went to check out the land of Canaan, ten of them came back with an evil report about the land. Only Joshua and Caleb proclaimed the Lord’s report and only the two of them eventually entered the promised land.  There will definitely be wars and rumours of war but you have nothing to fear because God is with you. However, you can miss out on the good of the land if you focus on the giants; and that is why it is very important to keep the fire burning constantly on your prayer altar as the year ends. This is not the season to attend needless parties or go on unnecessary outings. Spend quality time in the place of prayer and sow huge seeds of intercession into the new year. If a farmer refuses to plough his land, the ground will not be prepared for the next planting season. Plough the ground of 2023 in the place of prayer so that the seeds of greatness and blessings can grow effortlessly in it. Settle 2023 on your knees now. Proclaim God’s promises for the new year and pray them into existence. Gather the clouds as you pray ceaselessly so that the rain of abundance will fall heavily upon you in the new year.

5. FORGIVE

This is the season to settle your account with your debtors. Not your financial debtors but those that have wronged you during the year. Settle your account by forgiving them. Release them from your heart so that unforgiveness will not hinder the blessings of God from flowing to you. Just as the unforgiving servant in the parable of Jesus forfeited the forgiveness he had received from the king, you forfeit God’s forgiveness when you don’t forgive others. (Matthew 18:23-35). Jesus said that if we don’t forgive men their trespasses, God won’t forgive us our trespasses either. (Matthew 6:15). Forgiveness makes your paths straight and makes it easy for God’s blessings to access you. Unforgiveness puts a veil over you and shrouds you in darkness. Don’t allow it any further. If the hurt seems too big to forgive, ask the Holy Spirit for help. He will pour His grace into your heart and help you release your offenders. Forgive and let it go so that you can start the new year on a strong, peaceful and fresh note.

6. STRETCH

The last lap of a race is always a time to put in more effort. The movie, Overcomers, illustrates this well. When the heroine of the movie was only a few meters away from the finish line, she exerted more strength than she had done in the previous meters. She stretched herself beyond limits and this became a defining moment for her because she eventually won the race. This is not the time to relax and dawdle. Stretch! Isaiah admonished us to enlarge the place of our tents, stretch forth the curtains of our habitations, lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes because it is time to break forth on the left and on the right. (Isaiah 54:2). When a family is expecting a baby, they make adequate preparations. If their house is too small to accommodate the new addition, they move to a larger space. Your capacity this year must be expanded to accommodate what God wants to do in the new year. Fast more as the year ends. Pray more too as has already been stated. Tell more people about Jesus and read your Bible like never before. Preach the gospel wherever you go. Spare not! Don’t become lazy or lackadaisical about your walk with Jesus. Seek Him fervently so that you will end the year with a larger capacity. God has prepared great and mighty things in 2023 and only those that have enlarged the place of their tents can accommodate these things.

7. GET YOUR WORD FOR THE NEW YEAR

Those that run in relay races know how to position themselves to get the baton before they commence their portion of the race. Anyone that dashes off into the field without collecting the baton will be disqualified even if he/she comes first. Position yourself in this final hour to know what God has for you specifically in the new year. Don’t dash off to 2023 without collecting this baton of revelation and insight. It is your preservation in the race. When things look tough and you are tempted to back out, what you have heard and received will sustain you in the journey. Get your word for the new year from the Lord. Stay like the egg under a hen and allow the Lord to breathe His life and strength into you. The journey is far and like Elijah, you need supernatural nourishment to make it to the end. (1 Kings 19: 1-8). Wait on the Lord and let Him renew your strength. Don’t move until you hear what He has to speak to you and when He speaks, write it down.  (Habakkuk 2:1). Don’t be careless with divine revelations. Plan with what God has spoken to you. Make them plain upon the tables of your heart so that you can run with them in the new year.

In conclusion, God has amazing things for you in 2023. He wants to make a great agent of Kingdom advancement. He wants to furnish your life with His power and glory. Cooperate with Him so that you can finish 2022 strong and start 2023 stronger. Enjoy grace.