You’re Not Finished Yet: 5-Day Bible Study

Faith for the Middle (Day 1.)

Did you know that when serious runners train for a race, they train for the middle? Understandably, the middle of any race is the hardest part. It’s where a runner begins to run out of energy, strength, and the mental focus to keep going. Whether he or she is a sprinter or a distance runner, if they don’t make it through the middle, they won’t make it across the finish line. It sounds so simple, but it requires strategic training to succeed.

From a spiritual perspective, isn’t the middle what we’re in training for much of our lives? Think of it this way: we’re born one day, spiritually speaking, and then we begin this race, which is our journey in Christ on this earth, all in hopes of crossing the finish line some day and hearing that we did a good job with the race we ran.1 That might be an oversimplification, but it sums up our lives really well, doesn’t it?

Someday, when I finish my race, I want to be able to say like the apostle Paul, “I fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7), but to do that, I first have to get through the middle.

To get through the middle—of everything—you will need endurance. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36, ESV).

Endurance is formally defined as “the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress or adverse conditions.”2 It’s the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances. The power to withstand pain or hardships. It’s a hopeful fortitude that perseveres to the end. In the original Greek language of the New Testament, it is hupomone, a compound word that translates “to remain under.”3 It is a quality built by remaining under pressure—something our natural inclination wants to run away from—and it seems to hit us the hardest in the middle.

In the middle of our friendships.

In the middle of our dating relationships.

In the middle of our marriages.

In the middle of our parenting.

In the middle of our education.

In the middle of building our careers.

In the middle of an illness.

In the middle of a court case.

In the middle of a pandemic.

In the middle of a transition.

In the middle of something we’re hoping praying will happen.

In the middle of waiting on answers.

In the middle of anything is where it’s the most tedious, the most difficult, and utterly wearisome. It’s where we’re most challenged, isn’t it? It’s where all we want to do is quit.

But if we will build endurance, that strength the writer of Hebrews told us we would need, if we will train ourselves from the Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will have the wherewithal to make it through the middle. And not just one middle, but every middle that we will ever live through.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help us endure well as we go through the middle of everything we will ever go through. Help us run our race well, so that when we have done the will of God, we will receive what was promised. In Jesus’ name, amen.

References:

1. Hebrews 10:36, ESV

2. Merriam-Webster, s.v. “endurance,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endurance.

3. J. Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 1:74.

Finishing the Race

Scripture Verses: Hebrews 10:36; Isaiah 40:29-31; John 16:33

Day 2 : You Were Created to Move Forward

The Australian coat of arms depicts a very insightful image, one that I hold dear since I was born and raised in Australia and because it speaks volumes to me personally. There are two animals portrayed holding up a shield—the red kangaroo and the emu. They were chosen not only because they are indigenous to Australia but also because they were created to move forward.

The emu, a large, nonflying bird slightly smaller than its cousin the ostrich, is known for its speed, covering as much as nine feet in a single step when running full throttle. It is the only bird with calf muscles—much like a human. Nonetheless, it can’t walk backward. It can only move forward.

The red kangaroo—like all kangaroos—moves by a hopping motion called saltation, which literally means “to leap.” They push off with both of their large feet simultaneously and use their tails for balance. The combination of their muscular legs, big feet, and tails helps the kangaroos move forward effectively. But again, they can only move forward—not backward.

When I think of them, and the fact they are creatures God made that cannot walk backward, I can’t help but think of us—people made in the image of God, another marvel of creation designed to move the same way.

I understand that we need to step back from time to time and remember the past so we can move forward, and life sometimes hits us and we feel like we have gone backward, but God is faithful to pick us up and keep us moving forward. We are all on journeys no matter where we are. In some seasons we move forward quickly, and in others we move more slowly, but overall, we keep pressing on. Though we might pause and look to the past, we don’t want to get stuck in the past, right? How often have we allowed a season of disappointment, hurt, rejection, offense, or fear to stop us from moving forward? Today is a good day to take the hand of Jesus and, like the emu and the red kangaroo, take the next step forward.

Let’s take Paul’s advice to the Philippians, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. We can’t change the past. Not one bit. But we can affect our future. We can keep enduring in faith, reaching for all that God has planned for us. We can keep moving in the only direction we were created to move.

The emu. The red kangaroo. And you. All created to move forward. Never backward. Let’s be who God created us to be so we can do all that He’s called us to do!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You that even in nature You give us examples. You give us insight. Help us move the way You created us to move—forward, and never backward. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Scripture Verses: Philippians 3:13; Philippians 1:4-6

Night Marathon

Day 3: As Sure as Seedtime and Harvest

Do you have a dream? An idea? A yearning to do something that just won’t go away that you know God has placed in your heart? When God gives us a dream, He is calling forth what He placed inside of us before we were even born. We’re full of potential for His plans and purpose for our lives. Still, it’s up to us to water the seed of that potential, to tend to the soil of our hearts, to develop all that God has placed inside of us.

Think of it this way: God gave trees the ability to reproduce themselves through their seed. If you’ve ever taken a pine cone apart, you’ll see little seeds, each with a “wing” attached to it. That’s so the wind can catch the seed and take it where it can fall to the ground and begin to take root. In the right soil, in the right environment, that seed will sprout and grow into a new, fully grown tree. The fully grown tree was always in the seed, but no one could see it until it was put in the right soil and then nurtured by the rain and the sun.

In a similar fashion, the seeds in our hearts—the dreams and ideas and plans and purposes of God—grow as we water them with faith. The seeds grow as we tend to the soil of our hearts, feeding them the Word of God and applying it in our lives, thus making our hearts good ground.

God’s plans and purposes for our lives grow as we keep walking with Him, building endurance, and staying with those plans to completion. This is how we give birth to our dreams, to the ideas God gives us. The potential is always there, but it’s in seed form until we do what is necessary to make it grow.

God wants us to grow to where we are to go. The challenge is that it’s countercultural. It’s so much easier to reach for what’s instant, for what we can snap and upload, for what we can order and have delivered the same day, but that’s not how God’s ways work. They aren’t instant. God works over time. With a seed that needs to be nurtured.

Are you aware of God’s plans for your life? Can you feel any untapped potential lying dormant inside you? Potential is the difference between what is actual and what is possible. It is the unexposed ability, the reserved strength, the unrealized success, the dormant gifts, and the hidden talents waiting to be developed. It is the person you are still to become. It is where you can go but have not yet been. It is all you can do but have not yet done. It is where you can reach but have not yet aimed.

You don’t have to know all the plans and purposes God has for you, since most of them unfold over time, but do you know one of them? Start nurturing that seed today and watch it begin to grow. It’s as sure as seedtime and harvest.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help me nurture the seeds of potential You have placed inside of me. I want to grow where You want me to go. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Harvested Wheat

Seeds on soil to be planted

Scripture Verses: Genesis 8:22; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 3:20

Day 4: This Marathon Called Life

I love to run, though I’m totally not a serious runner. My idea of running is a five-mile slow jog, and when I say slow, I mean mothers pushing their babies in strollers can overtake me. My friend Dawn, the one I hike mountains with, is the real runner. She regularly competes in marathons and has built both the physical and mental endurance to go such distances. She’s run enough to know what it’s like to hit a wall while running, a concept I’ve never experienced because apparently I’ve never run far enough!

Hitting a wall is a place runners can overcome only with their minds. It’s more mental than physical, even when the physical is excruciating. Dawn once explained it to me by describing what happened in her first marathon. She was 23 miles in when she hit the infamous wall. She had 36 minutes to cover the remaining 3.2 miles. It would not have been an issue had she not already run for miles and didn’t have searing pain pounding in her left hip. As she tells it, the left side of her brain (the rational side) told her to stop and walk the rest of the way. Thoughts like, Don’t worry about meeting the goal. People will understand when they realize how hot it is and how badly I hurt,thundered in her head. But just as loud, the right side of her brain thundered back, There is still hope! The race isn’t over yet! It’s still possible to meet my goal. Don’t stop running!

Have you ever felt yourself in such a mental war? When your mind is screaming at you? In a race this happens when you hit a wall, when you have nothing left to give, when you’ve expended every ounce of energy and everything within you wants to quit. And yet, as Dawn experienced, somewhere deep inside, the flicker of a goal or dream begs to not be extinguished.

I’ve been in such a place, where I hit a wall spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. But at the same time, I had the Word of God in my heart and mind. I had God’s promises resounding in me at the same time my mind was screaming for me to stop. And because of His promises, that flicker of hope, I was able to keep going by focusing my mind on God and His Word. Despite how many times my mind fought me to quit, I kept redirecting my mind away from what it wanted to think and toward what God’s Word said was true.

Maybe you’re in such a place right now. What is your mind screaming at you? That it’s not possible? That it’s too late? That you’re not equipped? Not smart enough? Young enough? Old enough? Educated enough? You can win the war in your mind by renewing it with God’s words. You can endure by making God’s voice louder than any other voice in your head.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word. Help me be more acquainted with what it says so I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, and so I can get through any wall. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Night Marathon Runners

Scripture Verses: Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Matthew 19:26

Day 5: Focus on Your Why

Kylie is my oldest and dearest friend, and like so many of my friends, she frequently runs in marathon races. I am not sure if I am living vicariously through them, but I seem to have amassed many friends who love to run long distances. One thing I love about Kylie is the fact that she follows the same ritual in every marathon race she enters. As soon as the starting gun fires, she says aloud, “Kylie, all you have to do is finish.”

Throughout the race, she says this to herself at least one hundred times. She does not try to beat everyone, she does not compare her pace to the speed of everyone else in the race, she simply sets her own pace and runs her race. And most importantly, she wants to get to the finish line.

It’s such a great lesson for us all. If our goal is to be conformed and transformed into the image of Jesus, then becoming more like Jesus is our goal. Running our race, the way Jesus wants us to run our race, is our goal. Therefore, we’re not out to beat anyone else; we’re not out to be better than anyone else; we’re doing our best to be more like Jesus.

If we inadvertently get our eyes off the ultimate prize—Jesus—our eyes will fall on other things like people, status, and self-gratification, and we will get off balance and off track. If we take our eyes off the goal, we will quite possibly develop a mentality that things are not moving fast enough. That we’re not being rewarded or acknowledged soon enough. And we might even unintentionally uproot ourselves and walk out of our purpose.

To be honest, during some of the greatest challenges of my life and hardest times of ministry—those times when I found myself thinking, Why am I doing this? and had twenty legitimate reasons to quit—I’ve had to get myself refocused on the ultimate goal of when and why God called me. That is what has sustained me in my darkest hours. It’s the why that helps me keep running when the how makes no sense.

Maybe this is where you’re wrestling today. Perhaps part of the answer is to refocus on your why. More of the answer could be to not get distracted with short-term things that will gratify our immediate wants, so we can finish our course and attain our prize. Let’s refocus our eyes and hearts and minds to be on Jesus. Let’s purpose to finish our course and the ministry we’ve received from Jesus, as Luke wrote, so we can testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

Prayer

Jesus, my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I have received from You. Please help me reach this goal. Help me keep my eyes on You, the ultimate prize. In Your name, amen.

Continue Your Journey

This reading plan was taken from You're Not Finished Yet by Christine Caine. Read more at ChristineCaine.com/Devo

Basketball Player Focus

Scripture Verses: Acts 20:24; Galatians 6:9

Crossing the Finishline