Finishing Well
A popular topic with men is finishing well. Pete’s wife Suzan was a godly example of finishing well. Similarly The Apostle Paul finished well. The book of 2 Timothy was his epistle about finishing well and passing the baton to Timothy, his son in the faith. According to 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
Pete’s wife Suzan prepared her heart to finish well. To finish means to use up entirely. Finishing Well is to rise up and pour out everything in life according to the Lord’s intended purpose. The song by Casting Crowns is about finishing well. The purpose of this life is “Only Jesus.”
There are many paradoxes in the Christian life. God by his love, mercy, and grace allows us to unearth life’s most precious gems where we least expect to find them. God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. One such hidden gem is that in order to finish strong I must become weak. As the Apostle Paul said, “Thy strength is made perfect in my weakness. Thy grace is sufficient for me.” He said, “My life has been poured out as a drink offering and a sweet smelling savor unto my Lord.”
When Pete and Suzan were married, they vowed that they would love each other “til death do us part.” To finish strong means that when you’re in the midst of marital spat, you need to make a decision on how this will finish well. In the skirmishes of life you have to determine in your heart that you will live without regret. Suzan’s friends often said that she was “practically perfect in every way.” They never heard her say a discouraging word. She said, “Never let how others treat you determine how you treat them.” In finishing well she reminded her friends that “Joy is not the absence of pain. Rather, joy is the presence of the Lord”
Six months before she died, Suzan had a bout with forgetfulness, disorientation and mild dementia. She went with Pete to their family doctor to run some tests. When they received the MRI Results in February 2017, the doctor sat them down and said, “she has a brain tumor.” Pete’s friend Jerry Leachman recommended a renown brain surgeon at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston to perform surgery to remove her tumor.
God told them, “either Suzan’s finishing well will be your most glorious time together or it will be your most devastating.” God always gives us a choice through the trials of life. The night before her surgery, two hundred people met together at Mariners’ Church to pray for her. The morning of her surgery she was in good spirits and Pete remarked about her good mood. Pete said, “I’m proud that you’re running to the battle lines.” She said, “I’m not running, I’m being carried by their prayers.”
After her surgery, they returned home and a few months later ran some tests at UCLA to see the results of her surgery and follow up treatments. The tests results showed no evidence of cancer in her brain. However, Suzan had persistent double vision and they could not determine the cause. They went to see a eye specialist in Newport Beach who ran some new tests including a spinal tap. When the results came back the doctor consulted with an oncologist to look at the images. She said, “the cancer has come back with a vengeance and is all over her brain.”
Pete recalled that many years earlier Suzan was in labor with their second son. The doctor came into the Father’s waiting room and said, “We’re losing the baby’s heartbeat.” Pete prayed earnestly, “God please save my wife and my baby.” God answered, “How much control do you have over this situation?” Pete responded, “I have no control.” God’s next question was, “No matter what happens, will you still honor, love and praise me?” Pete said, “Lord, you know my heart. No matter the outcome, I’ll still honor, love, praise and serve you.” Then the doctor came into the room and said, “We lost the baby.” Because of his conversation with God, Pete and Suzan were able to prepare their hearts for the loss of their baby.
Every relationship in this life will end in pain except for one. Jesus said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Suzan never cried trough the painful ordeal of cancer treatments. She cried when she heard that two hundred people were praying for her. She also cried when she heard that someone had paid for her seven weeks of treatment. She only cried when she was overwhelmed by the generosity of others and the graciousness of God.
Our ministry is to create an environment where God can come help himself to our lives. To finish strong means to endure without protest in subjection to the master’s will. At the end of the race God will reassure us, “I am faithful to my Word. I have deepened you in the furnace of affliction and purified you through the crucible of life. Now you may rest in my love and find comfort in my own intensive care. Heaven rejoices when you go through trials and the valley of the shadow of death with a singing and rejoicing spirit. Through the trials, you will find your joy in fellowship of my comfort. At the finish line I will bid you, “Enter now into the joy of your Master.”
He has called us to finish well.
And In finishing well, may we ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael