Blog
From the Rev: Finishing Well
As I recently watch a road game for the Colorado Rapids, the team was working to come from behind. Down 1 goal to 2, the team was struggling to avoid a record 10-game road stretch without a point (either a win or tie). Then in the 86th minute, with little left in the time of the game it happened: Rapids’ Smith Goal
As I watched the game-changing event unfold, I thought, “Good finish” and told the team as much in my weekly e-mail to them. That phrase (common amongst soccer fans) though made me stop and reflect on what it means and what it looks like to finish well. Not just by putting the ball in the back of the net on a soccer pitch, but in the course of our everyday life.
The apostle Paul was one who knew that he was finishing well, he told his young apprentice and protege, Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:7-8
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Can the same be said of us? Do we finish well? This past season for the Colorado Rapids has been a difficult one at best. With an outside shot at the playoffs, a brand new coaching staff, a change of nearly 50% of the players from the 2011 season, the most losses since the record-setting season of 2000 – one might say it would be difficult personally or professionally to finish well.
But, truthfully, we are to work and give an account of ourselves, not as unto men, but as unto God. And whether we finish the season with 20 wins or 20 losses, whether we play 90 minutes or 90 seconds of a match, whether we are a starter or bench-warmer – no matter our job, our vocation, our situation, or our circumstances – we are called to finish and finish well.
I will confess that this season as a chaplain has been one of the most challenging for me because of personal and professional demands and challenges. But God-willing and with your prayers and support, I will work to finish well. Will you?
Blessings,
Rev. Brad Kenney
-150x150-8115.png)
