Finishing Well

My sporadic and itinerant blogging attests to how much work I usually have on my plate - at home, work and school. This leaves little time for 'extras' like blogging! The current semester ends in one week - yes, one week! The near-constant workload has left me exhausted and in need of a vacation (and thankfully we have one coming up - how about that!).

At the moment, I'm sitting in my office, listening to my co-workers in the hallway chatting, and enjoying a minute of near-solitude... the phone isn't ringing, the tide of emails has gone out (for the moment) and there is... quiet. As I enjoy this brief moment, I'm reflecting on this busy semester. "History II" was nearly the death of me - not that history is terrible - it's valuable and worth thinking about - but it doesn't fit neatly into my brain, and that makes it feel more like a burden than a blessing (hopefully in hindsight this might change!) 

I have one small assignment and one test still to come, and although the end is in sight, I'm aware of my exhaustion giving way to apathy. Strange, isn't it? It seems to me that some people, by their God-given temperament or by an act of sheer will, can happily push to the end, courageously and diligently fulfilling their obligations and tasks to relish in the gratification of finishing well.

I tend to feel the grind. I don't think I finish well - I finish, but I often drag my sorry butt across the line.

It's got me thinking about life.

Second Timothy 4 says, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." The author of Hebrews exhorts us to "run with endurance the race that is set before us," and Paul tells the Philippians to "press on toward the goal." Fighting, enduring, pressing on... to finish the race - and yet, I often feel like I'm slowly rolling under that tape at the end of the race.

Not exactly finishing well.

So it seems that each task in life is but a small hurdle along the way, ever teaching us to finish well - first in the small things, then in the bigger things. Each small victory another step toward finishing life well. So I'm learning to pace myself. Life isn't a sprint - a mad dash for the finish - but a long-distance marathon (God-willing!) and that takes training. Training doesn't happen accidentally, but takes intention, focus, discipline.

So that's what I'm learning. Finishing well. I might need a Gatorade break today, but tomorrow I will press on, not sprinting, but intentionally jogging along, keeping pace with my Creator. With His help, I'll finish the semester well; and with His help, I'll continue to develop the discipline, focus and intentionality that will enable me, at the moment God calls me home, to say that I ran the race.