We’re officially into the home stretch of the year, it’s gone in the space of an eye blink and we’re already in the “EMBER” months as some refer to them. I’ve been thinking a lot about the year and my mind has drifted back to the start. Of course we all get excited at the prospect of a new year, don’t we?
A new year brings with it new goals, a new outlook and a fresh reservoir of strength to go out and conquer the year. The start of the year is always exciting, full of enthusiasm and the sense that you’re in a race. You hear the gun go off and you’re off. At the outset of the race everyone is all in, head up, ready to go and keen to get to the finish line. In the course of the race I imagine different things happen to different runners. Some will be so weary and demoralised by the sheer rigour of the competition that they will be unable to complete the race. Some will have an injury and be disqualified. Others will just go on and finish the race, even if the circumstances around them are not ideal. I used that analogy because I think of each year as the start of a new race. The new year is always full of excitement, full of hope and anticipation of what’s to come. As the months go by though, all sorts of things happen to you; you have your ups and downs, your losses and your wins. It’s all part of the emotional rollercoaster that you go through and as the year draws to a close you are inevitably left with a certain level of fatigue, not just any fatigue but “end of year fatigue”.
Some people are already assessing how the year has gone and taking stock and that’s good in itself and I honestly think everyone should do that. The problem comes when we let the enemy sit us down and tell us how the year has gone, bombarding our minds with so much negativity and ingratitude. Perhaps you prayed to God for a breakthrough, and it didn’t happen. Perhaps you prayed to God for a job, and you didn’t get it. We’re all runners in a race really and we all have different experiences and different emotional ups and downs. The fact is that the drive, the zeal and the gusto you had at the start of the year is not going to be the same at the end. Most people just slow right down in the latter part of the year. Their habits are all over the place, their structure is all over the place and even their quiet time with Jesus is affected by the sheer amount of fatigue they’ve accumulated over the year. My encouragement to each one of you is to have a STRONG FINISH!
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:8a (KJV)
“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning”. The NLT version puts it this way: “Finishing is better than starting”
Despite all the experience you’ve had this year your attitude should be to have a STRONG FINISH! A lot of people start off strong and then just don’t finish strong. I think God is calling us up to a higher level and he wants to see his children finish well because the way you finish one thing is going to determine the way you start another thing.
As we draw to a close on the year, choose to finish it properly and well.
Choose to finish with a heart of gratitude regardless of how things have worked out. The Bible says “Give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). We are to give thanks in “ALL” things and not just some things.
Choose to finish with an attitude of praise as God does dwell in the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). Take all that you’ve learned and all the wisdom you’ve accrued throughout this year and carry it into the next year. Look back at your mistakes and your failures, learn from them and allow them to shape you into a wiser, stronger version of yourself. Don’t just take this year’s memories into the next year, take the growth, the understanding and the wisdom that has come with it.
Choose to finish this year in a state of joyfulness not because everything has gone according to plan but because you have learned to find joy in God regardless of your circumstances.
Do not allow disappointments, unanswered prayers, or missed opportunities to rob you of your joy. Take time to appreciate the lessons, celebrate the little victories, and recognise the grace that has carried you through the difficult moments.
Release what did not happen and then simply trust God with what is yet to come. Remember that joy is not the absence of hardship. Joy is the decision to trust God even when life is not at all what you thought it would be.
As you go into the final days of the year, choose gratitude rather than bitterness, hope rather than despair and faith rather than fear. You may not have got everything you prayed for but you do have grounds for rejoicing.
Finish this year strong as how you finish a thing will determine how you begin another.
With love.
Xx…
Favor Mwaba.
