Yeah. Somebody has said it before:
anybody can start (it just might be the easiest thing in the world to do).  but finishing? (yeah, that takes true strength).

I have a confession.

I'm a starter.
New project? New school? New idea? Spontaneous decision?
Yeah. I'm so on it.

Starting is great, but that's just the thing; it was never meant to be an end in itself.

I think it's fair to say that we all make commitments of some kind or another.  (You might be committed to attending a certain school, preforming a certain job, living in a certain city).

But making a commitment is just first step.
It's an exciting (and sometimes glamorous) step.

But in the glamour and excitement, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that a whole pathway lies ahead.

We've stepped onto the path; we've made a commitment.  
We might start down the path for a while and see how we like it.

Yeah, often we simply don't like it.  Then, we must choose.

We can keep walking, anyway.
We can choose to go back to where we came from.
We can veer away and walk a different path.
We can refuse to go any further and just sit down on the path.
We can close our eyes, and just pretend that the path isn't even there.

Honestly, I think I've done a little of all three at times, but it's the closing of our eyes that's hitting me the hardest.

Maybe it's not so much a closing of our physical eyes but a closing of our heart.

We're walking down paths that God has placed us on.
Things don't go as we like and sure aren't what we think they should be,
so we respond.
We often just close our eyes and try to shut out this calling, these tasks that God is clearly leading us in and toward.

In reality, we're closing our eyes to what God is doing around us.  what He wants to show us.  the sights he wants to reveal to us.  the heights that we can't even imagine.

Sometimes, we can't image these heights because it feels like we are in a valley.
And sometimes, that's exactly where we are.

but who ever said that we are there alone?

Because that's just the thing.

We've started.
We are on the path of certain commitments, and we are following God on this ultimate road He has for us.
We get frustrated.  We hit rock-bottom valleys.
We close our eyes, and blind our hearts to not only the joys of where He's leading but to who He is and the delight from that alone.

We start, but we stubbornly refuse to finish.  We refuse to do the hard work of keep-on-keeping-oning.

Maybe, what we really need to do is remember.

Remember that where God calls, He's going to equip you to go.
Remember that where God calls, He's going to go with you.
Remember that where God calls, we have to buckle down and actually do the going.
Remember that we must be faithful.

(Oh), I have a confession.

I stopped liking my path; I wanted off.  I didn't want to engage.  I wanted to change - to change something. myself. the path. my thoughts about the path. the destination of the path. the feelings along the way.

But maybe it's not so much about whether we like the path but how much we like the Creator of the path - how much we trust and are committed to Him.

If we truly had a deep, trusting love of Him, wouldn't we be satisfied with whatever path He chooses to send us on simply because He sent it? and simply because He promises Himself each step of the way? 

 It's the condition of our heart and not the direction of our hearts that need to change.

Oh Lord, help us, Your stubborn, blinded people.
Give us the faithfulness to delight in You -
because it's all about You and not our momentarily little paths, anyway.

Let's be finishers.
I have a confession: I haven't always been a whole-hearted finisher.

But I have a confession: it will be this way no longer.

because I'm coming back.