It’s not long ago since we were celebrating the new year 2022 and now, we are heading towards the end of it.
Have you ever heard of the term the first hundred days? I’m sure you have, in most cases, it is referred to as the beginning of a leading politician’s term in office. People wait to know what is that leader planning to do in the first 100 days. What will they focus on and what will they achieve? It’s a big deal. It’s almost like how each one of us at the beginning of a year plans out what we will do in the first quarter of the year which makes up most of the first 100 days of your year. It’s good to be intentional about how you start because you want to create momentum in your plans. During the first 100 days, church leaders usually share and preach about the theme of the year. This is done religiously in the first month or two and beyond that, it is all forgotten. No one talks about the theme after the 100 days have elapsed. It ceases to be a theme that describes a vision for the church in that year and it becomes a motto or a slogan that people are disconnected to.
In the first 100 days, we are driven by emotions because of the excitement of starting the year, but as time goes by, we lose excitement because that’s what emotions do, they change. Today you feel encouraged about ministry and tomorrow you don’t. It’s hard to depend on emotions when you are in ministry. Ministry requires character and discipline because that is what keeps us going when the journey gets hard.
Apostle Paul said to Timothy “proclaim the Word of God and stand upon it no matter what! Rise to the occasion and preach when it is convenient and when it is not. Preach in the full expression of the Holy Spirit —with wisdom and patience as you instruct and teach the people.”
Rise to the occasion and preach when it is convenient and when it is not. There is no consideration of feelings in that statement but a push to have the character for doing the work even when it’s inconvenient to do so.
However, our conversation today is not just about the first 100 days, it’s also about the last 100 days. Yes, the first 100 are crucial but so are the last 100. We often talk about finishing strong but what does it mean and when do I start to finish?
Finishing strong is an attitude. Finishing strong is a choice that you make. Finishing strong is not determined by circumstances but by the one who is courageous enough to see their work through to the end. In your work of ministry, what area do you want to finish strong? What plan did you have in place but haven’t worked on? What ministry or department needs a push in order to finish 2022 strong?
I want you to realize that you need to pray for the grace to finish. This grace comes in the form of an attitude, ideas, plans and direction that will help you finish strong. You have been running the race in 2022 and you have tried your best. As a leader when you start a race everyone looks at how you start and now that we are heading towards the finishing line, they look at how you finish.
So how are you going to finish? Finish strong. Finish with a bang. Finish in an extraordinary way. Finish the course with determination and boldness. Finish in the way the Lord wants you to finish. Finish in His light and guidance.
