{"id":45538,"date":"2023-04-21T17:33:04","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T22:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/?p=45538"},"modified":"2023-04-21T08:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T13:37:22","slug":"looking-to-heaven-we-can-finish-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mbcpathway.com\/2023\/04\/21\/looking-to-heaven-we-can-finish-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking to heaven, we can finish UP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh those days of feeling I\u2019ve left too many to-do\u2019s unfinished. Ever had those days? I had about 10 years\u2019 worth in a row when my five children were little. I would get to the end of a day and think: Wait. Did I actually get anything done? Anything finished? Anything? <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it wasn\u2019t so much that I hadn\u2019t accomplished anything. Just not many\/any of the genuine to-do\u2019s on the list. When you have a bunch of babies in a short span of time, there are ever the little surprises in a day. Like while you\u2019re trying to fish Milk Duds out of the toaster (the Milk Duds that didn\u2019t toast nearly as awesomely as your kids imagined) and your oldest comes to tell you the toddler is covering the cat with pudding. Oh, and one of the other kids just threw up. In the toy box.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those were the years of much unfinished business\u2014and a cycle of new toasters and toy boxes. I could tell loads of those stories without even resorting to the laundry tales. But ya\u2019ll know that laundry was ever unfinished, right? I could tell stories. Loads and loads of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the kids are grown, I\u2019m in a new season. And I have to tell you, at the end of a day, there\u2019s often still a lot left hanging. And it\u2019s not laundry. Goodness knows, there\u2019s still plenty of laundry. Loads for every season of life. Mostly unfinished. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve made some discoveries through all the seasons of unfinished business. I\u2019ve discovered I fret the most about what I\u2019m not accomplishing when I\u2019m struggling to accomplish it in my own strength. That\u2019s when I end up focusing on all the wrong accomplishments anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a sort of recalibration of the focus and a completely different outlook on those worries over what I haven\u2019t yet done when I realize that everything truly vital in this life\u2014everything really worth finishing\u2014has already been accomplished by the \u201cAuthor and Finisher\u201d of our faith. At each point I surrender and let the Finisher do the finishing, let the Completer do the completing, I can stop the sweating and experience His peace. \u201cNow may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, though Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen\u201d (Hebrews 13:20-21, NKJV).<\/span><\/p>\n

He is the Completer of every good work\u2014and He does that finishing work \u201cin\u201d us. He is faithful to finish the works that really count\u2014as faithful as He is to accomplish the saving work in us. When the Father completed His redemptive plan through the sacrificial death of His Son on the cross, the most glorious words of all time reverberated across eternity: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Resting in His finished work gives us an entirely different take on each season\u2019s toybox and toaster interruptions. It moves the \u201cfinish line\u201d to a reachable spot\u2014one He will reach for us and in us in the most glorious way.<\/span><\/p>\n

We can finish up, friends. Not \u201cfinish up.\u201d But, eyes toward heaven, finish UP.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He is faithful to finish the works that really count\u2014as faithful as He is to accomplish the saving work in us. When the Father completed His redemptive plan through the sacrificial death of His Son on the cross, the most glorious words of all time reverberated across eternity: \u201cIt is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":23323,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[5,29],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLooking to heaven, we can finish UP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"He is faithful to finish the works that really count\u2014as faithful as He is to accomplish the saving work in us. 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