Episode 6

TODAY’S READING:

20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but has taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city, the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Acts 20:20-24

 

Happy Monday! Today I have a friend joining me, Manouchka Charles! We serve together at church, and I am so happy to have her on the podcast and to write today’s devotional. 

 

I hope this encourages you as it did me. As I was reading this, I was thinking of how resilient Paul was, and I am just thinking about the climate of our nation with everything that is happening with our world today, and I am reminded of how resilient he was against things going wrong. He was really resilient in every area of his life. You see, he had 2 things that he focused on. 1 – Finishing the race and 2- completing the task. 

 

I think it’s important for us to realize that we want to be able to finish the race. God has called us all to do something, he has put something on our hearts to do, and our goal is to finish the race. It’s not to finish the race the fastest, and it’s just to complete the race. 

 

Sometimes we get caught up with wanting to do things too fast and trying to move too quickly. We need to remember that it’s not about how quickly we finish the race; it’s about finishing the race with excellence. It’s about completing the task and really completing it well. Paul lived his life that way. He knew he was called to preach the gospel, he knew he was called to tell people about Jesus, and he didn’t let anything stop him.

 

He had the decision to not go to Jerusalem, he had the decision to not travel to some of these places where hardships followed, but he made a choice that despite things being hard, despite them not going the way he wanted them to go, he was committed to completing the task. 

 

For me and my life, I know that I want to be committed to finishing the task, even though things may seem hard, even though it may seem uncomfortable. I may not know what the next day looks like, but I want to say I am committed to the task no matter the trials and tribulations. No matter what I face, I know that I am headed to what God has called me to do. 

I am committed to finishing the race and really to what God has said. 

 

Often times we want to give up when things get tough, but that is when we need to push through. That is when we need to move forward. That’s when we need to say that we can push through this difficult time to finish and complete this race that God has set before us. 

 

PRAYER

God, we thank you so much for this time we are able to spend together in the mornings. We just pray as we get ready to start our day- as people are getting ready to start their day at work or at school, or at home – that you would continue to encourage us, Lord. Even though this season seems like a tough one, we pray you to continue to encourage us to push through. May we finish the task, may we finish the race. For anyone reading who needs to be encouraged to continue to fight the good fight, I pray they feel encouraged that they know they are doing good work – they are doing something that’s going to bless other people. It’s this we pray in your name, Amen!