Finish what you Start...

A couple weeks back I had a chat to one of my piano students’ mom’s. Her daughter wanted to stop her piano lessons as she felt like she stood in her sibling’s shadow… But her mom wouldn’t let her as she wanted to teach her daughter how to follow through on decisions she makes – no matter how good or bad… or how successful or unsuccessful she is in that thing – to stick it out and stay committed until the course is completed.

I found these chocolates and sweeties in my drawer at the office – I have opened and started feasting on them all… but never finished any of them – what a waste - and it made me think a little about my own life…

What have I started but never finished? I have written many songs – but never polished them to the place where they are ready enough for me to step into studio to record. I have started many creative projects in my scrapbooking that have also not been completed… So it goes on with other things such as breaking bad habits such as drinking far too much coke (lol), getting into shape by running on a weekly basis or whatever you have going on in your life… and so we train ourselves to back out of anything that requires us to push through when the going gets tough.

Philippians 1:6 says that… ⁶And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He Who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.

 … If you’ve ever tried to put God’s way of doing things into man’s way of doing things then you have the wrong picture of who He is and how faithful he is to even, through our struggles, continue to push us until He completes that work in us.  Don’t give up prematurely… you may just abort what God is trying to do…

Romans 5:3-4

³Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.

    ⁴And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of ^[a]character (approved faith and ^[b]tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] ^[c]joyful and confident hope...